Guilt Trip
by ece23
Summary: The guys go undercover to investigate murders at a hotel, and start out having some fun, but along the way they meet someone who's determined to have his revenge on Hutch, and the assignment becomes less fun
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Here's the longer story I told some of you about. The guys go undercover in a hotel to investigate a series of murders, and start out having some fun with the assignment, but along the way they meet someone who's determined to have his revenge on Hutch. I'm thanking wuemsel again for the encouragement and help, and all you guys who keep reviewing.**

**Chapter 1**

There was trouble in the squad room. Hutch had lost his watch and there was a major search operation underway. The search team consisted of one man, while his partner sat on the desk reading a newspaper.

Starsky watched Hutch for several minutes over the top of his newspaper, before helpfully asking, "Where did you leave it?"

"If I knew that I wouldn't be looking!"

"Well where did you last see it?"

Hutch's glare stopped the unhelpful questions. Taking pity on his partner, Starsky looked around the floor and desk for a few moments. Seeing nothing, he tried to cheer Hutch up. "Maybe someone will get you a new one for your birthday."

"I liked the old one." Hutch hadn't paused in his search of the room.

Attempting again to help the search, Starsky opened his desk drawer and shoved aside some papers and stuffed animals. It was then that he spotted a silver gleam in the bottom of the drawer. "Ah... Hutch?"

Hutch was still searching the floor and didn't answer.

"Hutch!"

"What?" he snapped, turning his attention to Starsky.

Starsky sheepishly held out the watch. "I found it."

Hutch took the watch and gazed at Starsky speechlessly, pointing to the open drawer. Starsky nodded, flinching. Fortunately for Starsky, Dobey chose that moment to open his office door and peer out at them.

"You two, get in here."

They both moved towards the door, not looking at each other, and reached it at the same time. There was a brief standoff, and then Starsky waved Hutch through first.

Inside, Dobey waved them to sit. Hutch sat, and Starsky perched on the arm of the chair, in spite of Hutch's efforts to stop him. He leaned over and whispered, "Hey, Hutch. I'm sorry, okay? I didn't know it was there."

Dobey glared at them suspiciously. "Whatever's wrong with you two, save it for later. There's work to be done."

The pair stopped glaring at each other and paid attention to Dobey. Starsky spoke up first. "What kind of job is it, Cap'n?"

"Well, you know there have been a series of murders at the Golden Sands Hotel." Starsky and Hutch nodded. "The investigation isn't progressing very far. The killer might strike again, and we need more information."

Starsky leaned over to Hutch again. "I can guess where this is going."

"One of you will have to pose as a guest; for one thing so you can mix with the other guests and see what they know, and also so one of you will be in the building overnight. The other will have to blend in with the staff; see what you can find out from them."

Starsky and Hutch glanced at each other as if preparing for the battle that would follow.

Starsky had a thought. He held up a hand, and shared his thought. "Whichever of us plays the guest, there's a chance that the killer will come for us, right?"

Dobey nodded. "That's why both of you need to go. And whichever of you does play the guest, you'll have to be on your guard for that."

Starsky and Hutch nodded, and Dobey uttered the fatal sentence. "You can decide between yourselves who plays which part."

"There's only one way to settle this," Starsky told them authoritatively, standing up and digging in his pocket. "Coin toss." He looked at Hutch. "You got a dime?"

Hutch rolled his eyes and handed one over.

"You want heads or tails?" Starsky asked him, positioning the coin, while Dobey looked on, hiding his amusement.

"Tails."

Starsky tossed the coin and inspected the result. "It's heads."

Hutch grabbed his hand and inspected the coin for himself. It _was_ heads. "You cheated!" he accused, glaring at Starsky.

"How could I cheat at a coin toss? Besides, it was your coin. I won it fair and square, right Cap'n?"

Hutch had to admit defeat. Dobey said nothing, but it didn't dampen Starsky's enthusiasm.

"All expenses paid Cap'n?"

"All _necessary _expenses, Starsky."

Starsky nodded to himself, grinning.

Dobey continued speaking, ignoring Hutch's outrage and Starsky's over-excited enthusiasm. "I'll arrange a meeting for the both of you with the manager of the hotel. She can tell you what you'll need to do. Now, I want you two to go and read up on the case. Go on."

Standing up, the two made their way to the door again, with Starsky opening it to allow Hutch through first.

Outside, Hutch made his way to the desk, sat down, and picked up the phone to request the records of the case. Starsky sat down opposite and watched. When Hutch was done, he looked at Starsky again. "Are you sure you didn't cheat?"

"Yes!"

Hutch nodded. "Okay. And how did my watch get in your drawer?"

Starsky shrugged helplessly. "I don't know. I guess it must have been on the desk when I was clearing it, and I kinda... cleared it into the drawer."

Hutch nodded again. "Next time you feel like tidying my stuff away, you might wanna warn me first."

"Yeah. I won't do it again." Starsky managed to look guilty enough that Hutch believed him, and they got to work preparing for the mission.

***

The Golden Sands Hotel was a large, imposing and vaguely attractive building that had probably seen better days, situated almost on the beach. Starsky and Hutch had parked their cars a discreet distance away and were standing near them, looking around. It was late evening and few people were around, but there were some out at this time. Starsky's gaze involuntarily followed two scantily clad girls walking by.

"Try and keep your mind on the job, partner," Hutch reminded him, taking Starsky's chin in his hand and turning his face back towards the building they were about to enter.

They were here at a quiet time to meet the manager of the hotel, and discuss how they would go about the operation. The woman they were to meet was called Mrs Hawthorne, and both were slightly apprehensive about meeting her, given what Dobey had told them about her.

Hutch looked at his watch, which he was now keeping close to him at all times, and pulled on Starsky's arm. "Come on. We'd best be going in."

They approached the hotel, and headed up the steps leading to the front doors. Starsky was impressed. "Hey Hutch – look at the size of the door handles!" he whispered, pointing to the large, gold coloured handles on the oversized glass doors.

Hutch rolled his eyes. "Starsk, only you would be impressed by door handles."

Approaching the front desk, and seeing the young woman at work there, both men turned on the charm. Hutch spoke first. "Hi. We're here to see Mrs Hawthorne, she's expecting us."

The woman smiled. "I'll just go and get her." She slid off her chair and disappeared through a door to the side of the desk.

Starsky looked at Hutch. "I was hoping that was her."

Before Hutch could answer, the door opened again and the real Mrs Hawthorne came towards them. Older and fiercer than the other woman, with gold-chained spectacles and immaculately curled grey hair, she regarded them suspiciously. "Come through here, Detectives," she told them, gesturing to the door she had just come through. Starsky motioned for Hutch to go first, but found himself being shoved forward by Hutch.

Inside the office, she sat down at a desk, pointing them to the two seats in front of her. They sat down nervously, and Starsky introduced them. "I'm Detective David Starsky, and this is my partner Ken Hutchinson."

To his surprise, Mrs Hawthorne smiled at him. "You might want to dress a little differently when you come here next," she told him, but her tone wasn't unkind.

Starsky looked down at himself; he was wearing his usual tight jeans, t-shirt and leather jacket.

"Ah... okay." Realising what she meant, he agreed.

She started to speak to them again. "Now then, as you probably know, this is a prestigious hotel. However, lately, there have been a series of... murders." She shuddered as she said the word, then composed herself. "All four have taken place in the guest's rooms, and all in the evening or night. So, I understand that your captain requires one of you to take the place of a staff member, and one of you to pose as a guest."

"That's right." Hutch told her, nodding. "I was to be the staff and he was the guest," he informed her, pointing at Starsky.

"I see." She smiled at Starsky again, causing him to glance at Hutch in confusion.

She then proceeded to outline the plan for them for the next hour, including the times Hutch would have to work, as well as showing them the rooms where the crimes had taken place. Starsky was alarmed to hear that Hutch would have to be in at 5 every morning, and relieved that he had cheated at the coin toss. He figured it was fair though; Hutch was used to getting up early.

Finally, she had told them enough information, and thanking her, they stood up to leave. Starsky was sure he saw her wink as he exited after Hutch. They said goodbye to the girl at the front desk as they passed, and made their way out.

They pushed the heavy double glass doors open and headed slowly down the steps. A smirk spread across Hutch's face, and he glanced at Starsky. "I think she liked you. Must've been those jeans."

"Don't even joke about it. What's wrong with how I dress anyway?"

Hutch snorted. "Where do you want me to start?"

They had decided that Hutch would go in first in the morning, reporting for work, and Starsky would follow later to take his reserved room, at a more reasonable hour. They started to walk towards their cars, and as they got nearer they separated.

Starsky snapped his fingers and looked at Hutch. "You wanna go out for dinner tonight? I just read about this restaurant where you get all-you-can-eat, _and _unlimited ice cream refills."

"When they made that policy, they probably weren't counting on _you_ turning up. After you've been in there, they'll have to close down. You'll eat them into bankruptcy."

"Don't be mean. I'm sure they've got a salad bar for you. You wanna go or not?"

"Okay, but I wanna get home early. Remember what time _some _of us have to go to work tomorrow."

"Luck of the coin toss, partner. I'll pick you up at seven."

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Starsky let himself into his apartment cheerfully, got in the shower and changed his clothes. He was looking forward to the evening ahead, and almost looking forward to the assignment. He knew he was going to have to work, but at least it would be in nice surroundings.

When he was ready, he grabbed his car keys and headed out to pick up Hutch.

Hutch was waiting when Starsky got there, looking considerably less enthusiastic than his partner, although he tried to cover it with a smile, which Starsky saw through.

"Try and cheer up buddy, you might enjoy it," he told Hutch as they got in the car.

They drove in almost-silence to the place, which turned out to be not far from Hutch's apartment. It didn't look bad from the outside; it was relatively small and cosy, and also clean and recently decorated. It did indeed have a sign outside proclaiming "all you can eat", which pleased Starsky.

Inside, they paid their money, and Starsky left Hutch's side to begin happily shovelling food onto his plate. Hutch wouldn't have touched some of the junk with a ten-foot pole, but Starsky had been right, they did have a salad bar, and at least some of the stuff looked edible.

Sitting down opposite Starsky, who was already halfway through the food on his plate, Hutch suspiciously poked at some lettuce, then mentally shrugged and started eating it. At least if he got food poisoning he wouldn't have to work in the morning. That'd teach Starsky.

"So what d'you think of the hotel?" he asked, chewing the soggy lettuce.

Starsky had to wait to finish chewing before he could answer. "It's a nice place. I'm gonna like staying there." He grinned as he said this.

"That's right, rub it in. I still say you cheated on that coin toss."

"Say that if you want. You'll never know for sure. What about that woman, though?" Starsky leaned across the table towards Hutch, remembering the eccentric manager they had met earlier. "She kept smiling at me. Don't think she liked you much, though."

"I for one am glad she didn't."

"You won't be saying that when you have to work for her. She'll have you doing all the hard work as well as trying to solve the murders. Then you'll wish she liked you."

"Maybe she needed new glasses." Hutch snickered at his own joke, and Starsky shook his head in mock annoyance.

Starsky had by this time finished the mountain on his plate, although Hutch wasn't surprised, even though Starsky had managed to keep talking all the while. He'd managed to get plenty of practice at chewing and talking non-stop to Hutch at the same time over the last few years.

Hutch looked at the empty plates. "You going to get more?"

"Nah." Starsky grinned. "Gotta save room for ice cream."

After he had taken full advantage of the unlimited ice cream, Starsky looked at his watch, and gestured to Hutch. "C'mon. Bed time for you. Gotta be up early."

They got to Starsky's car and he drove Hutch home first. Hutch was yawning already by the time they got there, and Starsky got out of the car with him to say goodnight, almost feeling guilty that he had made Hutch have to get up so early in the morning. Almost.

Starsky tapped Hutch's arm. "Be careful in there tomorrow. And don't let the boss be mean to you."

Hutch smirked, told him "You be careful too. Remember that she likes you," and headed inside to his bed.

***

The next morning, Hutch approached the front desk, behind which were two women, discreetly hiding another yawn behind his hand. One woman was the young blonde receptionist he had seen the day before, and she was engrossed in work. The other was the manager, Mrs Hawthorne. Putting on his best high-class voice, Hutch held out his right hand and introduced himself to them as his undercover persona, reporting for work.

Mrs Hawthorne pushed her glasses down on her nose and looked at Hutch over the top of them. "Good morning. You'd better come with me." Stepping around the desk, she led the way to a private office, gesturing to Hutch to follow her.

She stood by, holding the door open as he entered, then closed it behind him, pointing to a chair opposite her desk, which Hutch obediently sat in.

Sitting in her own seat, she gazed at him over the glasses again. "Now. You and your partner have your job to do, and I understand that, but also, as luck would have it, we are somewhat understaffed, so your presence here is doubly convenient. We have some very distinguished guests here, and I had better explain what you must do."

She spent the next hour outlining to Hutch, in detail, the tasks he would have to carry out, and the manner in which he would have to do them, while he nodded at her and tried to remember all the information. Eventually she rambled to a stop, and looked at him expectantly. "Do you have any questions?"

He had a lot of questions, but he wasn't about to mention them all to her. He settled on one. "Uh, yeah. If, for some reason, I forget something, will there be... other staff, who can help?"

"Of course. But I wouldn't expect you to forget." Unexpectedly, she laughed, and Hutch thought it best if he laughed too.

"Now," she told him, her laughter stopping as quickly as it had started, "you need to put on your uniform."

He had not been looking forward to that part. Starsky was going to laugh his head off when he saw it. Hutch tried to console himself that the better he blended in with the others, the easier it would be for him to find out information without causing suspicion, and the sooner they could get out of here.

***

While Hutch was being prepared to start work, Starsky was sleeping soundly, not needing to go into the hotel until later that morning. Around 8 a.m., he got up and began to get ready, and arrived at the hotel just after 9. He proudly drove the Torino to the front of the hotel, where he handed his keys to someone to park it. He stood casually outside for a moment, seemingly appreciating the scenery, then decided it was time to make his entrance. He had dressed up for the occasion; still in jeans, but wearing smarter boots and a nice shirt, and he felt pleased with his appearance as he picked up his bag and confidently walked up the steps, opened the doors, and strutted to the front desk. He was amused to see that Hutch had already been put to work, and amused even more by the uniform, which included a bow tie.

Starsky arrived at the front desk, and smiled at both Hutch and Mrs Hawthorne, who was watching from behind Hutch's shoulder. Hutch ever-so-slightly inclined his head in her direction and rolled his eyes at Starsky, who tried his best to hide a smirk.

"I've got a reservation," he told them authoritatively.

"Of course you have," replied Hutch. "This is your room key. You're in room 203, up on the second floor. Do you need someone to help carry your bag?" Mrs Hawthorne appeared to jab him in the shoulder, and Hutch added a forced "sir" to the end of his question.

Starsky was all the more amused now, and trying hard not to laugh. He shook his head, covering his laugh with a fake cough. "No, thanks, I'll be fine."

Hutch pointed him in the direction of the lift, as well as showing him the locations of the bar and restaurant. "Don't hesitate to call the front desk if you need something," he told Starsky, in an obviously rehearsed speech, although the look in his eyes seemed to warn Starsky not to dare calling him, and with a polite thank you, Starsky ambled over to the lift to find his room.

TBC


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Hutch had been talking to the receptionist and was getting to know her; her name was Joanne and she was funny and entertaining, which was making this part of the assignment more bearable. At the moment she was describing her impressions of some of the guests to him.

"Have you seen the guy in room 203? He's... a little odd," she confided.

Hutch snorted at her description of Starsky. "Yeah, I know the guy you mean. I guess you could describe him like that."

"He was down here yesterday showing me his Bogey impression. It was awful."

Hutch laughed. "Aw, I'm sure he's not that bad."

"Well, yeah, I guess he was kinda sweet."

Hutch made a face. "I wouldn't go that far."

Joanne laughed, and Hutch decided he could risk talking to her about the murders now.

"So," he began, "I heard there'd been some murders here. Do you know anything about them?"

"Yes, horrible, isn't it?" she shivered as she thought about it. "And no one saw anything for any of them. Isn't it weird to think that whoever did it could have walked right through here, and no one would have known?"

"Yeah. Well, let's hope they catch whoever did it soon. Does anyone have any idea _why _they were done?" Hutch was still trying to appear as if he was just innocently interested.

Joanne checked over her shoulder before answering. Hutch had noticed that that seemed to be a reflex for people who worked here. "Well, maybe I shouldn't say, but Mrs Hawthorne did mention that they were some of her best customers."

"Does that mean the richest?" Hutch asked dryly.

She smiled. "Maybe. They were frequent guests here anyway."

"Huh." Hutch considered the information, then stored it in his mind to share with Starsky later. Maybe Starsky could search out some more of the richer guests and try to talk to them. It was likely, after all, that one of them would be next, so if Starsky was able to be near them, he had a better chance of seeing something.

***

Starsky was bored in his hotel room. It was mid-afternoon, and he really had been trying to do some work, but with no success so far, mainly because there was hardly anyone around to talk to. He had wandered the empty corridors for some time and seen nothing interesting, he had been to the bar, which at this time of day was nearly empty, he had explored outside the building, and finally wound up back at his room, having found nothing. He had made some notes on things he should try to look for while he was here, and he had made a mental note that later he should try and start some conversations with fellow guests, while Hutch could talk with his fellow staff members. They had hoped that by this method, one of them might manage to talk to someone who knew some useful information. If not, all they could do was wait and watch until something happened.

Now, though, Starsky had a better way of passing the time. Flopping on the bed, he picked up the phone that sat on the table beside it and pressed the button for the front desk, grinning to himself in triumph when Hutch answered. "Hutch, I want a drink."

"You know where the bar is buddy."

Starsky tutted. "What would Mrs Hawthorne say if she knew you were talking to me like that?"

Hutch checked around in all directions before answering. "I don't give a damn what she would say."

"Hutch, it's boring in the bar. It's almost empty and they're all men. Besides, if you come up here we can, uh, compare notes or something."

"Fine. I'll be there in a minute." Hutch gave in, being extremely bored himself. At least this would give him an excuse to get away for a few minutes. He hung up and went to get the necessary drink. He figured that as long as the police department was paying, he could get one too.

He hoped Starsky wasn't planning on making a habit of this though, because after all, they were supposed to be working, and if he wasn't able to laze around why should Starsky? He still had to get his revenge for Starsky winning the easier role in this mission somehow.

Taking two bottles, he headed up to Starsky's room. Starsky was waiting with the door open, and brightened up when he saw Hutch. "You think I got the easy job, pal, but this is really boring."

Hutch grinned. "Wanna swap?"

Starsky made a face. "Oh yeah, do you think they'd notice?"

"Hmm, maybe."

"So, have you found anything?"

Hutch sipped his drink. "Nope. All I've found out so far is that Hawthorne woman has it in for me."

"Still haven't made friends with her?"

Hutch made a face, and Starsky continued with his own story. "I got ignored by a lot of people and found out absolutely nothin' from walking around this place."

"Maybe you need to go and sit in the bar or somewhere and wait for people to come."

"But all the murders have been in the rooms, not down there."

"You just want to stay in here so you can watch the TV."

"Nope. Nothing on. Anyway, I won't find anything out until this evening, probably."

Hutch shared with Starsky the information he had found out from Joanne, they finished their drinks, and Hutch made a move towards the door, stopping and turning back to Starsky as he remembered something. "Where's my tip?" Hutch held out his hand, apparently serious.

Starsky fished in his pocket and brought out the dime Hutch had lent him for the coin toss, handing it back to his partner.

Hutch stared at the coin in his hand for a moment, then stuck it in his pocket.

"Generous. Thanks. I'll be sure to make a note of your name."

"Okay, I'll give you another tip. Try and stay away from that manager woman."

"Good advice," Hutch agreed. Pocketing the coin, he walked off, leaving Starsky to his boredom.

Hutch arrived back downstairs, checked left and right for Mrs Hawthorne, then quickly headed for the desk. She appeared beside him, making him jump. "Was that your partner again?" she asked in a low voice.

"Yeah. He had to ask me something about the case," Hutch lied.

"Oh. Well, make sure you don't neglect your duties here," she told him arrogantly and disappeared again.

***

The phone at the front desk rang for what seemed like the millionth time that day, and Hutch groaned in annoyance, looking at the clock. It had to be almost home time. He had had to deal with several rude guests and requests for room service already. Well he was damn well keeping the tips, he decided.

Starsky, meanwhile, was having more fun now that he had discovered a good pastime - he wasn't above tormenting his partner. He had been plaguing Hutch all afternoon with requests, or simply to tell him he was bored, and having run out of things to ask for, he had decided that it would be good entertainment to ask for things that were harder to come by. He had picked up the phone and called the front desk again, grinning when Hutch answered yet again.

He made his request without offering any greeting first. "Can you bring me a left handed letter opener?"

"No."

Starsky chose to ignore the menace in Hutch's voice and tried another one. "How about-"

"Will you please get off the phone," Hutch growled, cutting off whatever the next request was going to be.

"That's no way to speak to the guests," Mrs Hawthorne told him as she overheard, frowning and snatching the phone from his resisting hand. "I'm sorry, he's new," she spoke into the phone, "What can I do for you?"

Realising that he now had to think of a sensible answer, Starsky thought fast. "Um, that's okay, thank you, he already answered my question," he told the woman, and hung up. He needed some time to think of new material anyway.

"Why does he keep calling you?" she wanted to know, glaring at Hutch as she realised it had been Starsky on the phone.

Hutch bit back the remark he wanted to make about Starsky being bored of her hotel, but before he could make up a reason she began speaking again.

"Does he really have to ask you so many questions about the case?"

"Maybe he just misses me," Hutch told her, just for the fun of it.

Unamused, she stalked off and disappeared into her office. Glancing at the clock, Hutch decided with relief that he could get away with heading home now.

TBC

A/N: Thanks for the reviews so far! As P5 said in her review, this is the calm before the storm and the 'trouble' isn't too far away...


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

It was 5 a.m. the following morning, and in the grey early morning light, Hutch was just coming into work, yawning as he pushed open the heavy front doors with their shiny polished handles and made his way inside.

His first responsibility now was to check who wanted wake-up calls. Reading the list, an evil grin spread across his face as he thought of someone not on the list who really needed a wake-up call.

Dialling Room 203, he waited for the response, forcing himself to keep a straight face. A few seconds later, Starsky's sleepy voice answered him. "What is it?"

Hutch put on his brightest, loudest voice, "Good morning, this is your wake-up call."

Starsky's voice sounded more awake the next time he spoke. "You! Go away."

"Anything to report?" Hutch tried to keep Starsky awake, enjoying his revenge for Starsky's abuse of the phone, and the coin toss, which Hutch still suspected him of cheating at.

"Course not. 'S five in the morning." Hutch heard the phone being slammed down, and allowed himself to laugh. Of course, his revenge wasn't over yet. There were lots more hours in the morning.

Mrs Hawthorne appeared beside him suddenly. _How does she do that?__ And does she ever sleep? _He wondered, then decided to try once more to make friends with her. "Good morning Mrs H. Anything to report from last night?"

"Good morning," she answered coldly." No, your partner hasn't reported anything yet. Now, have you checked the wake up calls?"

"Yes ma'am, I'm taking care of it."

"Good." She nodded, then disappeared into her office.

Hutch amused himself for the next three hours by calling Starsky every hour, in between the real work he had to do. Starsky's reaction became increasingly more annoyed, which only entertained Hutch more, until finally, Starsky appeared downstairs, still looking sleepy with his hair sticking up from his head. Coming over to the desk, he jabbed a finger in Hutch's face. "You," he thought for a second, trying to decide exactly what Hutch was, "are mean."

"Problem, sir?" Hutch asked sweetly.

"You know what the problem is. Now if that woman asks if I slept well I'm gonna tell her what you did."

Hutch pretended to be afraid. Well, some of it was pretended. "You wouldn't!"

"Yeah I would!"

Mrs Hawthorne appeared behind Starsky. "Would what?"

Starsky thought fast. It was tempting to get Hutch into trouble, but then, this woman _was _mean. She'd probably put Hutch to work cleaning all the bathrooms or something. Also, remembering that he hadn't exactly been nice to Hutch, he figured that now they were probably even. Deciding to be nice, he looked at Mrs Hawthorne. "Um, I _would_ like to come here again, when I wasn't working."

"Well, how nice of you." Mrs Hawthorne smiled at them and left them alone.

Hutch sighed with relief, then raised his eyebrows at Starsky. "What was that?"

"I figured we were even," he said, smirking. " Didn't wanna get you into even _more _trouble with her."

"Well, thanks, partner. Why don't you go get breakfast or something?"

Starsky brightened at the mention of food. "Oh yeah! I'll see ya later." He disappeared in the direction of the breakfast room.

***

After he had taken advantage of as much breakfast as possible, courtesy of the police department, Starsky spent the rest of his day investigating the rooms where the murders had taken place. As far as he could tell, there was no pattern to them. The rooms weren't on the same floor, they weren't near each other. All he noticed was that they were all clearly more expensive, well furnished rooms. Hutch had told him this morning what Joanne from the front desk had said: that all the victims were the richest and most frequent customers. Starsky knew that for some people, that would be a motivation to kill, but now he just had to find out whose motivation it was.

Several passers-by had noticed him looking at the rooms, and got into conversations with him about the murders. Although Mrs Hawthorne had been trying to keep the murders quiet, a lot of people had found out about them, and many had their own theories as to what was going on, to which Starsky listened patiently.

When he was convinced that he would find out nothing more here, he made a mental note to tell Hutch some of the theories he had just heard – even the nonsensical ones, and headed downstairs to check out the hotel's other facilities. He was sure he would find people to talk to in the bar later, but now it was lunchtime, and maybe there would be someone in the hotel's expensive restaurant.

***

That evening, Hutch had also been made to work in the understaffed bar, although in exchange, he wouldn't have to come in so early the next morning. Starsky had dragged himself out of his room and into the bar, determined to find someone useful to talk to. For now, though, he was settling for talking to Hutch, as he sat opposite him at the bar, holding a beer and trying not to yawn.

There were a few other people in the bar, but none who Starsky felt he could approach without causing suspicion. Some time later, a middle-aged woman came into the bar, wearing an obviously-expensive pink silk dress. She sat down at the bar, a few seats away from Starsky, and beckoned Hutch over. Hutch served her, then drifted back to his original position opposite Starsky. Starsky gestured towards the woman and murmured to Hutch, "She looks rich. I think I should go talk to her."

Hutch nodded, and Starsky glanced towards the woman. As she looked back at him, he caught her eye and smiled, and fortunately she smiled back. He took that as an opportunity to move up to the seat next to her.

"Hi. I'm Dave." He introduced himself.

"Judith," she answered, offering her hand, which Starsky kissed instead of shaking it, causing Hutch to shake his head ever so slightly.

"Nice to meet you, Judith." Starsky had turned on all the charm, amusing Hutch hugely.

She kept glancing toward the door, and Starsky asked "Are you waiting for someone?"

"Yes, I'm here with a few friends. They're supposed to meet me in here, but they aren't down here yet."

After Starsky had conversed with her for a few minutes more, he had managed to get himself invited to a card game with Judith and her friends, as well as discovering that they stayed at the hotel often. With a little wave for Starsky, she left to find her friends, and Hutch came back over, to find Starsky triumphant about his achievement. Being around those people might give him a good opportunity of finding out or seeing something important. "You see that?" he gloated to Hutch. "That is what you call charm."

"I can think of another name for it," Hutch muttered as he dried a glass.

Starsky frowned. "What was that?"

"Nothing, nothing." Hutch did his best to look innocent.

"Good. I'd hate to think you didn't appreciate my hard work there."

"Well, I hope you enjoy your party with them later."

"Hey, if I find out something important while I'm there, it'll be no thanks to you." Starsky nodded decisively and picked up his glass.

Hutch was saved from replying as a man came into the bar, and Starsky turned curiously to look at the newcomer. He was sure he recognised the face, and thought for a moment before he was able to place the man in his memory. The man had been much younger the last time they had seen him. He subtly tried to get Hutch's attention. "Hey." Hutch leaned closer, and Starsky pointed a finger slightly in the man's direction. "Isn't he that guy from the academy?"

Hutch looked where Starsky had pointed, and noticed the man. "Oh yeah. Bill Thompson," Hutch remembered out loud, making a face of disgust. "The moron."

Neither of them had got on well with him at the police academy, and the feeling had been mutual. He had always harboured an unfair grudge against Starsky, for reasons they had never quite understood, and by association, he also disliked Hutch. Starsky ducked his head. "Damn it, if he comes over here he's gonna ruin everything and none of these people will wanna talk to us."

Thompson had been talking to a young woman who sat at a nearby table, and she hadn't looked very happy about it, from what Starsky could tell. He was a fairly large man, with prematurely-graying hair an an almost permanent sneer on his face.

Sure enough, Thompson seemed to have spotted them, and he came over, smirking. "Starsky, Hutchinson." He greeted them. "Long time no see. What are you two doing here? Gone down in the world, Hutch?"

Starsky turned on the other man. "Yeah, nice to see you too. Now beat it."

Thompson pretended to be hurt. "Oh, you don't want to talk to me?"

Starsky tried to appeal to him. "Look, you're a cop too. We're trying to work here, don't ruin this."

"I knew the staff here was bad, but now they've got you two as well... how could it get any worse? Seems to me you got a cushy job here, then," he taunted, ignoring Starsky's request, and laughed loudly at his own humour, causing several people to turn and look.

Starsky stood up slowly, facing Thompson, who ignored the threat in Starsky's posture and looked at Hutch again. "Nice uniform, Hutch. Does Starsky like it?"

"Starsk," Hutch whispered warningly, sensing his partner's growing anger. Starsky was worse than Hutch when it came to controlling his temper. He reached over the bar to grab hold of Starsky's arm, but Starsky was definitely angry now, as he stepped up closer to Thompson.

Neither Starsky nor Hutch had noticed, but two other men at the bar were watching them, and Mrs Hawthorne was standing near the doorway to the bar.

Starsky spoke to him again in a low voice. "I'm telling you one last time, get out of here."

"Why? Worried I'll endanger your case? It couldn't be any more endangered when it's got you two working on it."

Thompson turned away for a second to leer at the young woman he'd just been annoying, and Starsky used the opportunity.

Before Hutch could stop him, Starsky had drawn back his fist and hit Thompson hard in the face. He staggered backward and dropped to the floor, and Hutch took the opportunity to step around the bar, catching the eye of the other barman. He took Starsky's arm, leading him away. "C'mon, Starsk," he whispered, and then, turning to the crowd of staring people, "It's okay, people, I'll take care of it."

Hutch was vaguely aware of Mrs Hawthorne watching in apparent horror from the doorway of the bar as he led Starsky past her.

Hutch waited until they got to the staircase before he began telling Starsky off. "That was stupid."

"It shut him up, didn't it?" Starsky snatched his arm away from Hutch.

"Well, yeah, but-"

"But what? Could you think of a better way to do it?"

"There must have been a way to do it without drawing so much attention. You could have ruined everything back there!" Hutch hissed furiously.

Starsky's anger was fading, and he was starting to look guilty. "If he'd carried on like that, everyone would have known we were cops. He was gonna ruin the whole thing."

They arrived back at Starsky's room and Hutch placed a hand on Starsky's shoulder. Starsky's guilty face was winning his sympathy. "No harm done, I guess, partner."

Starsky began to smirk. "Well, except to that guy's nose."

"Yeah. Go on, get in there. Don't forget, you've got to meet your new friends later."

Starsky made a face. "Oh yeah. I did forget. Do I still have to go?"

"Yep. But never mind. Maybe you'll find out a lead from them, and at the very least you might get some free drinks."

Starsky disappeared inside his room with a grunt, and Hutch headed reluctantly back downstairs to sort out the mess.

TBC


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Starsky sat at a table with Judith and four of her friends. She was generous with the wine and her friends were outgoing and friendly. He was enjoying the card game so far, as well as getting to know more about these people who said they were regulars at the hotel, but as yet he had heard no clues as to who might be targeting people like these. His best bet was to hang out with them as much as possible.

As the night progressed, none of them showed any signs of wanting to stop playing and go to bed, and Starsky, although he was hiding his yawns behind his hand, saw no reason not to stay up with them.

It was almost 3 a.m. when the party began to wind down, and Starsky thanked the women for the night of entertainment before everyone started to make moves toward the door and head to their own rooms for what was left of the night.

He was the last to leave, and he said goodnight to Judith again, before stepping out of the door and turning to walk towards his own room. He was distracted when he thought he saw, crossing a junction between two corridors up ahead, someone in dark clothing, who appeared to be following one of the women he had just been playing cards with.

Wondering if he was about to witness the next murder, Starsky cautiously moved up to the intersection and peered around the corner. He saw the back of the man just rounding the next corner, and he followed again, stopping just at the corner to peer around. He saw that the woman clearly had no complaint to being followed by the guy – as he watched, she stopped kissing the man and pulled him into the room by his collar.

Smirking to himself, he turned around, intending to head back to his room now and get some sleep before it got light. He was hoping Hutch didn't plan on repeating his wake-up call trick at 5 a.m. today. At that moment he heard a woman's scream. Breaking into a run, he headed in what he thought was the direction of the scream, wishing he had worn his tennis shoes and not cowboy boots that he couldn't easily run in. He paused at the top of the main staircase, and hearing what sounded like crying, he ran down the stairs three at a time, and into the lobby, where he searched around for the source of the scream. Peering into the darkened bar, which had closed for the night some time ago, he could see a woman just inside the doorway, apparently frozen with fear, and an unpleasant shape on the floor in front of her.

She was one of the night staff; she wore the uniform of the hotel, and a terrified look on her face. Starsky placed a comforting hand on her shoulder as he brushed past her and crouched to check the figure on the floor. He recognised the dead man, and his heart sank. Standing back up, he ignored the body for now and headed back to the woman – Thompson wasn't going anywhere.

The murderer must still be in the vicinity of the hotel, Starsky thought; he had only heard the scream moments ago, and the body was still warm. He decided to attempt talking to the frightened woman, who still stared at the body on the floor, in case she had seen the killer. "Miss... did you see anyone else down here?"

She nodded, looking up at him. "I-I only saw the back of him," she stammered. "He went that way." She pointed to the main doors.

"I'll be right back," Starsky told her, and ran over to the doors and down the outside steps. He gazed around him, but saw no one. The street was empty of pedestrians at this time of night, and if the man that the woman had seen had got into a car, Starsky had no hope of catching him now.

Defeated, Starsky wearily turned and climbed the steps back up to the hotel. The young woman who had found the body would need reassuring, and there was work to be done. He was going to have to call Hutch and get him down here too.

***

When Hutch arrived at the hotel, he could immediately see the signs that there had been another murder, although that didn't require any great detective skills. Starsky had called him, sounding tired, and also concerned, and told him about the newest development in the case. At first, Hutch had thought for a moment that this early-morning call might be revenge for his own trick of waking Starsky with the wake-up calls, but the tone of Starsky's voice had convinced him. There was a black-and-white and a coroner's van outside, and as he got into the lobby, he noticed Starsky in the bar, amongst a small crowd of onlookers, and a shape covered in a sheet on the floor.

He edged nearer to the crowd. "What happened?" he asked the nearest one. He could guess, but he wanted to hear what these people thought had happened.

A man answered him. "Someone else was killed here about an hour ago. Some of 'em are saying it wasn't the same killer as before, but they're not sure. This one wasn't killed the same way as the others. And some say they saw a guy fighting with him here last night. Maybe he came back to finish the job."

The colour drained out of Hutch's face as he realised who the latest victim must be, and who this man was implicating as the killer. He caught Starsky's eye across the room, and Starsky looked as worried as Hutch felt, although only Hutch would have noticed it. To anyone who didn't know him, Starsky appeared calm.

One of the officers entered the bar, and Hutch stopped him as he walked by. "Uh, excuse me, I'm a cop. Detective Hutchinson," He surreptitiously flashed his badge at the officer. "Can you tell me what's going on here?"

The cop glanced at the badge, then at Hutch. "The manager of this place says she saw someone fight with this guy last night. She thinks he could have done it."

"No, that was my partner. I can guarantee you he didn't kill him."

The cop eyed Hutch suspiciously. "Why don't you let us investigate, sir."

"Well, what makes you think she's right?"

The cop sighed. "He wasn't killed in the same way as the others. The original killer probably didn't do this one. Maybe someone who didn't like this guy did it, hoping to blame it on the other killer. Your partner didn't like him, according to some of the statements we've got."

Hutch felt someone enter the room behind him, and, turning round, he spotted Mrs Hawthorne. He tried to catch her attention, but she ignored him. The officer Hutch had just spoken to moved over to her and spoke in a low voice, and Hutch saw her point at Starsky, and then at him. The officer nodded, then started to walk toward Hutch. Hutch was getting a bad feeling about this situation.

The officer came over and spoke again to Hutch. "What do you know about what went on here?"

Hutch didn't appreciate the man's superior tone, but answered him anyway. "Well, I left about ten last night, and my partner was playing cards in one of the guests' rooms until three, from what he told me."

"We spoke to the lady in question. It seems that the man was murdered very shortly after your partner left her room."

Hutch didn't know what to say. Starsky walked over to join them, and the other officer eyed the pair suspiciously before walking away to talk to a guest who was trying to get his attention.

Hutch grabbed Starsky's elbow. "Come on."

He led Starsky to the door of the bar, and seeing that the front of the hotel was relatively empty, with most people being in the bar to stare, he headed for the main doors. One of the officers stuck his head out of the bar to call after Hutch, "Don't go too far away, detectives." His tone held a hint of a warning.

"Just gonna get some fresh air," Hutch called back. He thought he could feel Starsky clenching his fists, and tightened his hold on Starsky's arm until they were out of the doors. He could feel the officer's eyes on them, and went to the bottom of the steps outside the main doors, stopping there, and turned to see that the other cop had gone.

He turned to Starsky, running a hand through his hair. "Well, this isn't going so well."

"Are they trying to say I might have done it?" Starsky asked, seemingly stunned at the turn of events. "But... I came downstairs when I heard the scream. The guy had only just been killed. That girl I saw knows I didn't do anything."

"Why couldn't you have just played cards for a few minutes longer, then there'd be no doubt."

Starsky ignored Hutch's comment, carrying on with his own fragmented train of thought. "And they're saying it wasn't the same murderer as all the others, so who was it?"

Hutch wandered a little way down the street, thinking, and Starsky automatically followed. "You saw a girl?" Hutch asked.

"Yeah, that was the one who screamed, just before I came down. She found the body and she saw someone leave through the main doors, but she couldn't describe him."

Hutch nodded thoughtfully, and looked around. His eyes stopped on his car, as he saw something white attached to the windshield wiper. He started to walk over to the car, with Starsky following as he too spotted the paper.

It was folded in half, and Hutch pulled it out and unfolded it, revealing writing on the inside. He read for a few seconds, froze, and silently handed the note to Starsky. It read 'You'd better run Hutch.'

Starsky looked up at Hutch, his face full of concern, and jumped at the sound of a gunshot nearby. Automatically he grabbed for Hutch and they ran for cover.

TBC


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Starsky and Hutch ducked into a nearby alley at the first opportunity and looked around them for the source of the shots.

"See anything?" Starsky asked, slightly out of breath, as he leaned out of their hiding place.

"No," Hutch said, peering out of the other side of the alley.

Starsky looked over at Hutch. "What now?"

"Run?" Hutch suggested helpfully.

Starsky rolled his eyes. "Well, I was kinda trying to plan what comes _after_ that."

"Oh. Well, we need to find somewhere where no-one'll see us for the time being, and call Dobey to tell him what's going on."

"Where do you suggest we go?" Starsky still studied their surroundings as he spoke.

"Let's see what we find."

"Okay."

They edged to the end of the alley again and leaned out cautiously. There had been no more shots fired. Hutch was still in his uniform from the hotel, and Starsky had a feeling that Mrs Hawthorne wouldn't be happy about the loss of the uniform.

Starsky poked Hutch as a thought struck him. "D'you think we'll be on any wanted posters?"

"Hope not. These people don't want to see your ugly mug plastered all over their neighbourhood." Hutch spoke absent-mindedly as he looked around for clues as to the source of the gunfire.

"Hey, you know my mom says I'm handsome," Starsky said, then grew serious again. "Who do you think wrote that note?" Even though Starsky was talking, his alert eyes still scanned the street ahead of them.

Hutch had been wondering the same thing himself. He had been worried about who had really killed Thompson back at the hotel, and whether they had intentionally made it look as though Starsky had done it. Now he was also worried about who had left the note, and what they wanted, and whether they had anything to do with events at the hotel or whether this was just a badly timed, unrelated attempt at scaring him. It was common knowledge that cops made a lot of enemies, after all, and that note could have been written by any number of people.

Before he could answer Starsky's question, Hutch felt the distinctive muzzle of a gun appear at his back, at the same time as Starsky suddenly straightened up.

"Okay, boys, give me your money and no-one gets hurt," came a voice from behind them. There were two men, and each one held a weapon against the detectives.

Hutch groaned, "This isn't happening," at the same time as Starsky said "I don't believe it." Hutch was fairly certain that neither of them had their badges with them.

"Afraid it is. Now empty your pockets, or you and your pal are getting some extra holes put in you." The man dug his gun into Hutch for emphasis.

"I haven't got any money on me," Hutch tried stalling for time.

"Then why have you got that rich boy uniform on?"

Starsky suddenly grabbed his left shoulder, unsuccessfully trying to stifle a yelp, and the criminal behind Hutch spoke again. "See? Now your pal's had to pay. Give me your money and I won't hurt him again."

"Okay, okay." Concerned for his partner, Hutch dragged some cash out of his pocket and handed it over, and it must have been enough to placate them, for the two criminals snatched what he offered and ran away, the one holding Starsky letting go of him so suddenly that he stumbled. Hutch was immediately at his side, holding his arm. "Hey Starsk, you okay?"

"That guy stuck his knife in me," Starsky replied, sounding shocked and outraged at the same time, and gripping Hutch's arm in return.

"Okay. Just hang on and we'll find somewhere safe to go and regroup."

"As if we weren't in enough trouble already," Starsky grumbled, complaining to himself.

Holding tight to Starsky's arm, Hutch led him to the end of the alley, and after peering out to be sure no one was looking, Hutch walked out, trying to appear as if he was just going about his normal business and not doing anything suspicious, which wasn't easy with Starsky complaining at his side with a growing dark red stain on his jacket.

None of the police officers from the hotel had followed them, which Hutch thought was odd. Perhaps they hadn't noticed what was happening outside. Considering the recent turn of events at the hotel though, Hutch thought it best that they didn't go back there until they could talk to Captain Dobey.

Starsky continued his rant. "I thought this was a good neighbourhood!"

"Well, opportunists are going to think that good neighbourhoods have plenty of rich targets," Hutch spoke softly.

"Unbelievable," Starsky shook his head. "We were outside for what, five minutes?"

"Six," Hutch corrected.

"Oh, six," Starsky nodded, "That's okay then," he added with sarcasm.

Hutch sneaked a look at the shoulder of Starsky's jacket. The fact that he was talking, and complaining, probably proved that there was nothing seriously wrong yet, but there was a fairly large bloodstain growing there, and they were going to find it hard to remain inconspicuous for much longer, as well as the fact that so much blood being _outside _of him probably wasn't good for Starsky.

They only had to walk to the end of the block, with Starsky worryingly growing more and more quiet, before Hutch spotted a likely stopping-place; a dishevelled motel that was in need of a paint job on the outside and God-knew-what on the inside, and with a broken sign proclaiming it to be an "otel". It looked like the kind of place where the owner wouldn't care too much about who his guests were. They could probably contact Dobey from here too, and he could advise them on what to do.

Hutch nudged Starsky. "Hey, I think we found us some luxury accommodation, huh?"

Starsky looked up, gazing unenthusiastically at the motel. "Oh yeah, looks nice. D'you think they got chairs?"

"Only one way to find out, partner." Tightening his arm around Starsky, Hutch headed for the motel.

They staggered through the doors, and up to the front desk, where a scruffy man wearing a dirty vest stood, smoking a cigarette. Hutch released his hold on Starsky slightly and addressed the man, hoping he wouldn't ask any difficult questions. "Hi. You got room for two people for tonight?"

The guy put out his cigarette and stuck it behind his ear, before gazing at them, considering. "You two in trouble?"

Figuring that to answer yes might earn them more respect from the man, Hutch answered that they were. At this point, it was probably best not to give away too much information about their identities anyway. While someone seemed to be out to get Hutch, it would be safer to keep a low profile.

The man gazed at them for a few seconds more, before appearing to come to a decision. "Okay. I won't ask no questions." He passed Hutch a key with a number printed on it. "You're in this room. Hope it's okay for ya."

"Yeah, that's great, thanks," Hutch answered, taking the key. "C'mon, Starsk," he muttered, heading for the stairs that led to the rooms, as the man at the desk watched curiously.

Starsky looked up at the staircase as though he were sizing up an assailant. "We gotta climb all them?" he asked wearily.

"Yeah. Don't worry, I got you."

Starsky took a deep breath. "Well, there's no time like the present." He set off determinedly, and Hutch had no choice but to go with him.

Once they got to the room, he was going to see to Starsky, get in touch with Dobey, and try to work out what the hell was going on.

**TBC**

**AN: **Some of you might be wondering the same thing as Hutch, but it should make more sense soon. Thanks for sticking with the story so far, and for the reviews


	7. Chapter 7

Hi guys, here's the next chapter. Thanks for reading, sorry for the delay between chapters, and thanks for your patience! Also, Janet Brown and Aussie Mitcham, since I couldn't reply to your reviews personally, thanks so much for the reviews so far!

**Chapter 7**

Once in the room, Hutch placed Starsky down on one of the beds and made a quick inspection of the room. It was sparsely furnished, containing nothing but two beds, a dresser and a tv, but it did at least have its own bathroom.

Hutch returned to Starsky, who was sitting where he had been left, blinking. "Starsk, I'm gonna have to talk to the guy downstairs. Tell him we want to stay here for a while, convince him not to say anything if anyone comes looking for us, know what I mean?"

With an effort, Starsky focused on Hutch's face and grinned. "Okay. Don't be away too long, sweetheart."

Hutch appreciated the attempt to lighten the situation. "You bet. I'm paying for this room, I want to get my money's worth." That said, he dug in Starsky's pocket and came out with his wallet, which the knife- and gun-wielding thieves had missed.

"Oh, you're paying, huh?" Starsky asked, amused in spite of his injury.

"Yep. Hey, I'm the one delivering the money."

"My money," Starsky mumbled, quietly enough that Hutch almost didn't catch it.

Hutch hurried downstairs, and delivered his messages to the man at the desk, who was perfectly happy to not draw attention to his new guests, in exchange for Starsky's cash, then ran back upstairs, to find Starsky now taking advantage of the room's small tv.

Hutch rolled his eyes at his tv-loving partner. "Starsk, only you would be watching a movie at a time like this."

"Hey, it's a classic," Starsky replied, not taking his eyes off the screen, "and it takes my mind off things."

"Okay, tv addict, but you're not getting any popcorn," Hutch joked, moving to sit next to Starsky. Cautiously, he poked at the hole in Starsky's clothes. "Get your jacket and shirt off," he instructed, and looked up to see Starsky staring at him in tired amusement.

"You always so commanding with your dates?"

"Shut up, mushbrain," Hutch told him affectionately.

"Oh, that's nice," Starsky told him, pretending to take offence. "I only got this because they saw your fancy uniform and thought you had money."

"Shows how dumb the criminals around here are then. It's the people who _stay _in that place who have the money." As he talked, Hutch pulled at Starsky's jacket, trying to be careful but still causing a quiet whimper as he pulled it off Starsky's injured shoulder.

"Why does that shoulder always get it, huh?" Starsky asked, gripping at the bedclothes with his other hand and leaning against Hutch slightly.

"Maybe it's magnetic," Hutch offered, looking inside Starsky's shirt.

"Huh?" Starsky blinked at him in confusion.

"You know, first it attracts cars, bullets, now knives. Magnetic."

"Oh!" Starsky got it and nodded, looking down at where Hutch was still poking. "How does it look?"

Hutch bit his lip. "We should get you to the hospital."

"Can't," Starsky told him through gritted teeth. "Someone out there's got it in for you. How do you know they won't try and blow you away the minute we step outside?"

There was silence for a moment as Hutch argued with himself in his head. He wanted to get help for Starsky, but his partner had a point. He'd be no good to Starsky if whoever had left him that note decided to make good on their threat.

Hutch made his decision, as difficult as it was. "Alright. But as soon as we call Dobey and get some backup, then you're going."

Starsky sighed. "Alright. Now how does it look?"

"Not too bad." Hutch wasn't lying, the wound wasn't as deep as it could be, and it was a fairly neat hole. It had to hurt like hell though, and Starsky was losing more blood than was good for him. "I'm just gonna go talk to the guy downstairs again. Don't go anywhere."

"I won't. Don't wanna miss the film." Starsky was obviously trying to appear stoic in front of his friend, but of course Hutch could see through it. Still, he would let Starsky think he had succeeded for now.

Hutch left the room and went quickly down the stairs. The motel owner smirked at him. "Back again Blondie?"

"Yeah. Um, do you have a first aid kit or anything like that around here?"

The man reached under his desk and brought one out, but didn't hand it to Hutch. "It'll cost you."

"What?" Hutch stared at him, not comprehending at first.

As an answer, the man flipped on the small tv behind his desk, and changed to a channel showing the local news. "Looks like you and your pal might be in some trouble there. What's to stop me telling anyone?"

Sighing in defeat as he understood, Hutch brought Starsky's wallet out of his pocket and handed over more notes. "That cover it?"

The man looked at the cash in his hand, considering, then silently handed the kit over.

"Thank you," Hutch told him, with a trace of sarcasm, and ran back up the stairs, to find Starsky sitting where he had left him, but not watching the movie any longer. Hutch realised Starsky had found the news that the guy downstairs had been watching.

Hutch took the remote out of Starsky's unresisting hand and changed the channel back to the movie. "Don't look. It won't help matters."

Starsky tilted his head back to look up at Hutch. "Well, at least that answers our question about the 'wanted' posters." Starsky wobbled slightly, and quickly returned his head to its normal position.

"Hmm." Hutch returned to his seat next to Starsky, noticing the unsteadiness, and placed an arm around him. "Okay, let's take a look at this."

Starsky noticed Hutch's preoccupied tone. The blond idiot was probably beating himself up about all this. Sure enough, a moment later the guilt started.

"I should have tried harder to stop you hitting that guy. If I had then maybe we wouldn't be in this whole mess." Hutch chuckled self-consciously. He had been trying to keep his tone light but the worry in his voice was obvious.

Starsky held up his good hand to stop Hutch before he could go any further. "Hey, I'm the one that decided to hit him, not you. And nothing could have stopped me."

"But-"

"What do you want me to say?" Starsky interrupted. "That it _is_ all your fault?" This was hard work.

"No." Hutch was starting to smile.

"Then it isn't." Starsky nodded decisively. Case closed.

Hutch fixed him up as much as was possible in relative silence after that, while Starsky watched the conclusion of the film. Starsky withstood Hutch's first aid bravely, with only a few gasps when Hutch pressed too hard on the shoulder, and then lay back in relief when Hutch announced that he was done. Making sure Starsky was alright for the moment, Hutch headed downstairs to see if he could contact Dobey, and was surprised to find his new friend in the reception of the motel. "Do you have a phone I can use?"

The motel owner covered the phone behind his desk possessively with a large hand. "Sorry, pal, this one's for employees only. There's a payphone across the street."

Stifling an annoyed sigh, Hutch thanked his unpleasant friend and left the motel, spotting the phone that the man had told him about. Jogging over to it, he quickly checked that no one was looking at him, and then dialled the familiar number for Dobey's office. He let the phone ring for a long while before he decided that it wasn't going to be answered. Hanging up, he dialled Captain Dobey's home number, receiving no answer there either.

Hutch looked at his watch; it was getting late anyway, and if he came back early tomorrow morning, there would probably be no one around while he made the call.

Still feeling guilty for his own part in getting them into this situation, Hutch headed back to the relative safety of the motel, and made his way to the room to check on Starsky.

He never noticed he was being watched by two men.

***

TBC


	8. Chapter 8

Hey guys, here's the next chapter. Sorry for the long delay in posting! The next chapters should come a lot quicker now. Also apologies for any mistakes in this one. Thanks so much for all the reads and reviews so far!

*******

**Chapter 8**

The two men watched as Hutch went up to his room, unlocked the door and stepped inside. Now they knew exactly which room he and Starsky were in. Robbing them had been a clever plan on the part of Gary, and had enabled them to easily follow the pair to their destination. It had distracted the detectives, making them slightly less vigilant than they would usually have been, and also slowed them down, making following them much simpler.

Liam and Gary had been drinking in the hotel bar two nights ago, knowing that the two cops, who they recognised, were in there. They had seen their perfect opportunity for revenge, and after they had witnessed Starsky fighting with his old acquaintance, Gary had known exactly what to do. He had been wanting this chance for a long time.

Liam accepted that his brother was much smarter than himself, and had gone along with his Gary's plan willingly. Gary knew what had to be done, and Liam was well aware of the need for revenge.

The pair had had Bill Thompson killed, and then had followed the two detectives' movements, for it had been Gary that had decided to put the note on Hutchinson's car. They had successfully got the two cops worried and uncertain with that note. They had pretended to be robbers, coming up behind Starsky and Hutchinson, and ensuring that the detectives' escape from their revenge would be much harder by injuring one of them. Now they knew exactly where the two were staying, and they could carry on to the next stage of their very complex plan.

They didn't intend to kill the detectives. That wasn't part of Gary's plan, but the detectives didn't know that. Gary simply wanted to inflict as much fear as possible, and he didn't mind causing some physical pain for them too. He intended to draw out the revenge for as long as he could.

Hutch was the main object of their revenge. They had hated him for a long time, but Starsky was his partner, and if further fear could be caused to Hutch by roughing up his partner a little, they were willing to do that too. They intended to enjoy themselves.

***

Hutch woke early, and after first checking on Starsky, who was slightly warmer than usual but seemed to be alright for now, Hutch left him sleeping, and got dressed to go back to the phone, where he would try calling Dobey again.

Dobey answered his office phone on the second ring.

"Captain, its Hutch," Hutch told him quietly.

"Hutch? Where the hell have you and Starsky been? When I heard what went on at the hotel, I was waiting for you to report to me!" Dobey bellowed. "No one knew where you were. What did I tell you about private parties?"

At the brief pause in Dobey's tirade, Hutch quickly interrupted. "I tried calling you last night; maybe I just missed you or something."

Hutch outlined the events to Dobey, who decided that it was best for the pair to stay where they were until he could attempt to sort out the situation. "I'll come see you later on," Dobey decided. "Try to stay out of trouble until then, huh?"

"Thanks Cap," Hutch said sincerely, and hung up.

Hutch re-entered their room to find Starsky where he had left him, and just waking up.

"Starsk, I told Dobey what happened. He's going to come see us later, and I think I'm gonna go look for some supplies for us while it's still early."

"Hang on, I'll come with you," Starsky ordered, blinking and pushing himself up with his left hand, then wincing as he remembered why that was a bad idea.

Hutch's voice was sympathetic as he went to help. "No you're not, you stay here."

"No, I gotta come, you might need backup," Starsky insisted as he dragged himself out of bed using Hutch's arm.

"Starsk, I'll be alright, and that face is not going to work on me this time," Hutch told him sternly as he steadied his friend.

Starsky was determined, and he grabbed his clothes off the end of the bed. "I'm coming whether you like it or not. Someone's after you." Hutch rolled his eyes at the obviousness of that statement, and Starsky continued, oblivious. "And I'm not letting you go out there alone."

Hutch sighed. "Fine." He directed Starsky towards the bathroom, having to follow a few seconds later, in spite of Starsky's insistence that he could get ready by himself, when he heard a crash and remembered that Starsky was going to have trouble getting into his clothes.

Finally, without any major incidents, they were ready to head out, until Hutch stopped and looked closely at Starsky.

"What?" asked Starsky, confused.

"You can't go outside in that jacket. People are going to stare at you."

"Well, I don't see anything else here for me to wear, except that hotel uniform jacket of yours..." as Hutch's eyes lit up, Starsky hastily tried to clarify what he meant. "No, I was kidding! I am not wearing that. I'll go without a jacket!"

Hutch was already across the room, picking up the discarded jacket from the floor. "You can't. There's blood on your shirt, remember?" He returned to Starsky, and forcibly removed his bloodstained jacket, replacing it with the hotel jacket. Deciding it was too much effort to argue, Starsky left the jacket where it was.

As Hutch smirked at the sight of Starsky wearing his usual worn out jeans with a smart maroon jacket emblazoned with the hotel logo, Starsky pointed his best imitation of the Hutchinson Finger at his partner. "No laughing. This is your fault."

"Look on the bright side. That's great advertising for the hotel."

The familiar banter made both of them feel better about their situation. As long as they were in this together, and in a relatively safe place with Dobey working to help them, things couldn't be too bad, could they?

"Turn it inside out," Starsky decided, doing his best to struggle out of the jacket. "Probably better if no one sees that logo."

Hutch obediently helped to get the jacket off, turn it inside out, and get it back on.

Finally they left the room to go and look for a shop. Luckily, with it being early morning and a weekend, there were few people around. As they walked, Hutch looked over at Starsky and noticed his face; he appeared to be deep in thought. "What's on your mind, Starsk?"

Starsky seemed to come back to the present abruptly, and looked at Hutch. "Have you ever thought about how many people want to kill us?"

"Doesn't really need much thought. To the bad guys, we're the bad guys," Hutch reasoned.

Starsky still appeared confused, and Hutch was half joking, half serious when he reached over and felt Starsky's forehead. Starsky slapped his hand away.

"Well I don't know, maybe they're just jealous," Hutch suggested.

"Jealous of what?"

"I dunno." Hutch shrugged. "Our good looks?"

"You think I'm good looking?" Starsky grinned.

"Shut up." Hutch thought for a minute. "Okay, let's assume someone hated us, and wanted to try and blame us, or you, for that murder. Let's also assume that whoever did that left that note on my car. If they wanted to kill us, they could have done it, but they didn't. What does that mean?"

Starsky thought too, and started to shrug, before changing his mind. "Probably the usual, some flake who hates you for some case you worked on years ago or something. So anyway, now we gotta hide from the local cops, and from whoever really killed Thompson and left that note."

"Yeah."

"You ever think there must be a safer job we can do? Y'know, toy store assistants or something?"

"No. I think we'd get into trouble anywhere."

"Right," Starsky agreed.

By this time, they had arrived at a small shop, and they entered to look for their supplies. Starsky muttered to Hutch "Wouldn't it be just our luck now to get caught in a robbery?"

Hutch held up a finger. "Don't even joke about it."

They didn't get caught in a robbery, and managed to buy supplies without any disasters. They left a short while later, and headed back to their motel. At first the streets seemed quiet and fairly empty, but Hutch was growing increasingly vigilant as it got lighter and later. He couldn't shake the feeling that they were being followed, although he hadn't seen anyone, and had been trying to hurry Starsky up, but his cowboy boots were not easy to move quickly in, and as Starsky stumbled yet again, wishing he had ignored Mrs Hawthorne and just worn his trusty sneakers to the hotel assignment, Hutch stopped and turned to Starsky long enough to say "Take them off."

Starsky stopped too, looking at Hutch in disbelief. "Hutch, have you seen the state of these streets? I'm not walking on them in my socks."

"I'll get you a new pair for Christmas. C'mon, off with the boots."

Grumbling, Starsky reached out and balanced himself with a hand on Hutch's shoulder, removing the offending boots.

"Now, isn't that better?" Hutch asked, taking the boots out of Starsky's hand despite his protest, and depositing them behind the nearest dumpster. "We'll come back for them some time. They'll only slow us down."

Starsky made a face as he considered where Hutch had left them. "Not sure I want 'em back now."

Hutch wasn't sure that all of Starsky's clumsiness was due to the boots; he had been setting a fast pace after all and Starsky really should have stayed behind in the room. Hutch stayed nearby him as they walked, placing a steadying and on his arm, which Starsky made no attempt to remove.

Starsky looked up at Hutch questioningly. "You get the feeling someone's watching us?"

"I think so. Come on, the sooner we get back the better."

***

Gary and Liam had seen the two go out, and had not missed their chance. They easily broke into the right room, and Liam stood guard while Gary disappeared into the bathroom.

Gary reappeared a few minutes later, grinning. He slung an arm around Liam's shoulder. "Now, we go outside and wait ," he informed his brother. They left the room with no visible trace of their presence.

***

TBC


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

Hutch let them back into the room, and dumped the bag of supplies on the floor, for want of a better place.

Starsky was looking worse for wear by now, obviously hurting although he tried not to show it, and Hutch grabbed his arm and insisted that he sat down before he fell down. Starsky did so without protest; testament to the fact that he wasn't his usual stubborn self.

Hutch chewed his thumb thoughtfully, looking at Starsky. "Starsk, maybe we should go find a doctor," he thought aloud.

"No," Starsky insisted, his voice tight as he tried to appear stoic in front of Hutch. "We don't want to be out there any longer than we have to be. Besides, I don't need a doc, I got you haven't I?"

Hutch smiled at Starsky's trust in him, even as he thought that trust was probably misplaced. He should have been able to get them out of trouble by now, but he hadn't managed to think of a way to do so.

Starsky distracted Hutch from his guilty thoughts as he patted the bed. "Hutch. Come here."

Hutch obediently sat down beside Starsky, and Starsky leaned against him slightly as he realised what Hutch was thinking and attempted to make it better. "'Not your fault," Starsky insisted. "No one's fault but the bad guys."

Hutch smiled; Starsky always had a way of making him feel better. It usually worked, too, although this time he couldn't stop thinking that he should have protected them better. He dug in one of the grocery bags and came out with aspirin; it probably wouldn't do much for Starsky but it was the best that the little convenience store had to offer. He handed the bottle to Starsky and went to the bathroom to get water in a paper cup, bringing it back to Starsky so that he could take the painkiller.

They spent the rest of the day talking and eating the supplies. They had tried to work out who might have disliked them enough to want to get them into trouble, and had come up with a much too long list.

They had then discussed what they should do if someone had tried to frame them for murder, and come up with no better idea than to hide from whoever had really done it, and the local police, while Dobey tried to help them. Finally, they had discussed the original murders that they had been sent to the hotel to solve. After all their research at the hotel, the best they had been able to come up with in the short time they had been there was that someone who hated the rich people had probably done it, and they could do no more work on the case until they were out of trouble themselves.

Captain Dobey appeared late in the afternoon, tapping on the door to Starsky and Hutch's room after asking the man in reception where he could find the two, and was let into the room by Hutch.

He was concerned for Starsky, although he concealed his concern for his 'boys' behind a facade of anger.

"You alright, Starsky?" he asked gruffly, looking at his watch.

"Just fine, Captain," Starsky answered as Hutch frowned at him.

Dobey looked to Hutch.

"He'll live, Captain," Hutch clarified, "but I'd really rather get him some help."

Dobey grunted. "Dangerous for you two to go outside too much if someone's after the two of you. Which it sounds like they are. But I could send someone here, if you want."

Hutch nodded as Starsky shook his head, and Hutch nudged Starsky. "That'd be good, Cap, thanks," Hutch acknowledged, ignoring Starsky's muttered insistence that he was fine and didn't need anyone.

Dobey shook his head at the pair of them. "Can't you two ever stay out of trouble? I don't appreciate having to come all the way down here to check up on you on what should have been an easy assignment."

"Would have been easy," Hutch acknowledged, "if someone hadn't decided to make things a lot more complicated."

"So let me get this straight," Dobey thought aloud. "You two were just meant to be seeing what you could find out about the murders. In the meantime, someone else got murdered. Someone you knew."

"With a different MO," Hutch pointed out. Starsky grunted his agreement.

"They made it look like Starsky might've done it. And then when you two left to get some space, someone outside was also threatening you. And fired at you."

"Yep." Hutch nodded.

"Sounds pretty complicated for your average criminal," Dobey observed. "And someone hurt Starsky – was that related, or just bad luck?"

Hutch shrugged and sighed. "Either, I guess. Both?"

Dobey nodded. "Do you still have the note from the car?" he asked. "It's a long shot, but we can check it for prints. In all likelihood it's someone you've met before."

Hutch pulled out the note that he'd been preserving in his pocket and handed it over.

Dobey carefully put the note away and cleared his throat, then got up to leave. "Stay out of trouble now," he warned. "I'll see what I can do and come back to you tomorrow."

Eventually they settled for watching tv for the rest of the late afternoon and evening, until, tired out by the recent events, they went to bed early. Hutch found that after he had got ready in the bathroom, he couldn't keep his eyes open, and as soon as he lay on the bed he was almost asleep. Starsky was similarly affected, and after exiting the bathroom and stumbling over to his own bed, he collapsed on the bed face first, falling asleep straight away.

***

After an hour had passed, Gary and Liam entered the room, convinced that it was now safe to enter, as both detectives were deeply enough asleep not to notice their entrance. They quickly noticed the object of their revenge, Hutchinson, fast asleep with his blond hair fluffing out on the pillow. Starsky was snoring away in the bed next to Hutch, his hand under his cheek, but they ignored him. The next stage of their plan involved only Hutch.

"Hey Gary. It worked!" whispered Liam, excited by the easy success of their plan. Gary had been able to get hold of a drug that would put the pair to sleep quickly, and he had used it in the bathroom, to good effect.

"Yeah, it did. Now stay quiet!" Gary whispered back. They had already distracted the man downstairs with a bottle of whisky they had brought, and all they had to do now was take Hutch out of the room and out to their car without anyone noticing, which shouldn't be too hard.

Co-ordinating their efforts, Gary and Liam lifted Hutch, who didn't show any sign of waking from his drugged sleep, and got him outside, where Gary waited with Hutch while Liam brought the car. They put Hutch in without anyone noticing, and drove off into the night.

TBC


	10. Chapter 10

**Thanks to Janet and P5 for the kind reviews on the last chapter! And thanks again to everyone who already read and reviewed. **

*******

**Chapter 10**

Gary and Liam had returned to their room, and Liam watched as Gary busily prepared something on the table. Hutch was laid out on the floor, unconscious.

"They made us read this book once. In school," Gary began conversationally. "They could make this guy believe anything they wanted in the end. First they hurt him, then they put him in a room with the thing that scared him most, and tried to get him to say things that weren't true. He wouldn't at first, but eventually he'd say whatever they wanted, in order to make them stop."

"What was he scared of?" asked Liam, interested.

"Rats."

Liam shivered and made a disgusted face. "I hate rats."

"I always wanted to see if it worked," Gary continued. "Who better to try it on than him?" Gary was now preparing something for his experiment; a drug that was a mixture of sedative and something to make Hutchinson's mind more susceptible to anything they might suggest.

Liam gave his brother an evil grin. "So what do you think _he's_ scared of the most?"

"Well, let's think about his history, and make an educated guess. It's a toss-up between needles, or someone killing his partner. Maybe it's both." Gary's voice had taken on the tone of a teacher, although he smirked as he spoke.

"Well, we don't have his partner," Liam said, confused.

Gary smiled slowly at his brother. "Yeah, but he doesn't know that, does he?"

An even wider evil grin spread across Liam's face. "You're right." He looked at the needle held by his brother, and partner in crime, and pointed to it in wonder. "So that stuff should make him believe whatever we tell him?"

"It should help. We'll have to give him some convincing, to back up what we say, but it should be easy to get him to believe it. First we'll try and convince him we've got Starsky," Gary decided, making Liam laugh, "then we'll see what we can make him believe."

"This is gonna be fun," Liam decided, staring at Hutch with an eager expression on his face.

"Yeah, we'll make him pay _and _have some fun. Good, eh?" Gary looked at his younger brother affectionately. "But we can't do anything unless he's awake." Gary went over to Hutch, knelt next to him, and slapped at his face. "Wake up pig. Got a surprise for you."

Hutch woke up slowly, squinting his eyes shut again as he registered the headache. It wasn't the type of headache he was used to from being hit over the head, and he suspected drugs. There was a strange taste in his mouth and he was thirsty, but he suspected he had got into some trouble with these men, and he wouldn't be able to improve his situation any time soon.

"Starsk?" he tried. His voice was quiet.

Gary winked at Liam, then turned back to Hutch.

"Your partner can't join you right now. I'm afraid it's just us."

Hutch pushed himself partly upright, squeezing his eyes shut as his head pounded again, then tried again, focusing on the two men in front of him. Both were relatively young, and looked alike, with dark hair and medium heights, although one appeared some years older than the other. "What have you done to him?" His voice was stronger this time.

"Can't tell you yet," Gary told Hutch, hearing Liam cackle at that.

Cold dread swept through Hutch. Who knew what these men had done to Starsky while he had been unconscious? And with Starsky already injured, too. And now, there was the question of what they planned to do to him. These were obviously some criminals he had offended at some point during his police career, although he could no longer keep track of all the enemies he and Starsky had made.

Gary poked his foot into Hutch's side, bringing him back to his current situation. "Hey cop, this is gonna be easier if you just do what we tell you."

"And if you don't, we'll _make _you do it anyway!" Liam added from his position on the other side of the room, unable to control his enthusiasm.

"Quiet, Liam," Gary ordered, and his brother fell silent.

Hutch's anger grew, and hoping to take his captors by surprise, he quickly staggered to his feet and lunged at Gary. Gary was surprised for a second, before he quickly reacted and slammed a fist into Hutch. Hutch dropped back to his knees, trying to breathe, and Gary nodded at Liam, who brought a needle over to his brother.

Hutch spotted it and tried to fight against it, but Gary and Liam both held him down, as Gary injected the drug into him, and watched him slowly fall back to the ground, unconscious.

"I didn't want to have to use that yet," Gary commented calmly. "Maybe he'll be calmer the next time he wakes up."

***

Starsky awoke to the same headache Hutch had experienced. He opened his eyes slowly, and immediately shut them again as he saw the bright morning sunlight slicing through the room.

"Hutch?" he tried calling his partner, but on receiving no answer, he cautiously opened his eyes again to scan the room, with his hand carefully in front of his face blocking out the worst of the sun. Hutch wasn't in his bed, although he had been at some point; the bedclothes were untidy and trailing onto the floor. Starsky's gaze moved to the bathroom, but the door was open and no sound came from within. Starsky tried to look at his watch, but the numbers blurred senselessly, and he gave up.

Deciding Hutch had probably gone to call Dobey again, Starsky gave in to the headache and lay back down, closing his eyes. Completely without meaning to, he soon fell back asleep.

***

Hutch woke again some hours later, to an even worse headache than before, although he now remembered what had caused it. He also noted that his hands were now tied behind him. Carefully opening his eyes, and noticing with relief that the room's curtains were closed, he looked around for his captors, and spotted them on the other side of the room. They were deep in conversation, and didn't appear to have noticed he was awake.

Ever-so-slowly, he began edging upwards, when he suddenly caught a word of the conversation and froze, listening. Even though his brain wasn't operating to its usual standard, he was positive Gary had just said 'Starsky'.

Gary, who had his back to Hutch but was perfectly aware that he was awake, winked at Liam and continued his pre-planned speech. "If he admits to doing it, we'll let Starsky go."

Alarmed at this mention of Starsky, Hutch thought hard, confused. _Admits to doing what? _Deciding to drop the pretense and reveal that he was awake, in the hope of finding out more information, he addressed Gary. "What have you done with Starsky?"

Gary turned around, pretending to be surprised. "You're awake."

"Answer my damn question," Hutch ordered.

Gary shook his head. "Not telling you."

"Well what do you want with us?" Hutch demanded, his tone becoming more impatient.

"Simple," Gary told him, smiling coldly, "revenge."

***

TBC

(I promise, in the next chapter Starsky wakes up properly!)


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

Sorry for the delay with this chapter, again... And thanks again for the reviews so far! On with the story...

***

The next time Starsky woke up, it was almost afternoon. Expecting Hutch to be back at the room by now, he sat up slowly and looked around. The curtains were still drawn, which struck him as odd, but bright late-morning sunlight intruded into the room through a small gap in the curtains, and there was still no sign of Hutch. An uneasy feeling nagged at him, and he sat up slowly, wondering where his partner was. He stood up cautiously, stifling a groan of pain, and after making certain that Hutch really wasn't in the room, he quickly got dressed, gritting his teeth as he forced his injured arm into his clothes without Hutch there to help.

A knock at the door distracted his attention, and Starsky debated with himself as to whether he should answer it, finally deciding that he could open the door carefully, and defend himself if it turned out to be someone he shouldn't open the door to. However, on opening the door a friendly-faced, older man presented himself.

"Hi," the man greeted Starsky. "I'm Doctor Weiss, and your Captain tells me you're in need of some help, but that we need to keep it quiet."

Starsky smiled self-consciously. The man seemed harmless enough, carrying a black doctor's bag, and Starsky waved him into the room with his good arm. "Yeah, come in," he acknowledged.

The doctor glanced around the room, assessing his surroundings, and then motioned to Starsky to sit down. "Sit there, detective, and I'll take a look at that injury," he ordered.

Starsky obediently sat in the only chair in the room while the doctor crouched beside him, and allowed the man to pull down the neck of his shirt to examine the wound.

"It's not too deep, detective," the doctor reported, glancing at Starsky over the top of his glasses. "But I ought to dress it properly."

"Yeah, whatever you think, doc," Starsky agreed.

He kept up his bravado while the doctor cleaned and bandaged the knife injury, then listened to the man's instructions.

"Use that arm as little as you can," the doctor ordered, "and try to change that bandage at least every day if possible. Would you like me to give you a prescription for painkillers?"

Starsky thought about it. With Hutch missing, he wouldn't have time to go and collect a prescription; besides which, it wasn't too bad. "Uh, no, thanks," he told the doctor. "I'll be fine."

"Okay... well, if you change your mind..." the doctor wrote down his phone number and handed it to Starsky, then picked up his bag and headed for the door. "Call me if you need anything."

"Will do, doc," Starsky waved with the piece of paper. "Thanks a lot."

***

Starsky made his way unsteadily out of the room, intending to go and call Dobey and see if Hutch had reported to him that morning.

Five minutes later and he had found out that Hutch had not called in that day; Dobey had heard nothing since the day before and assumed that they had been unable to call. Both Starsky and Dobey were now very worried, and Starsky thought he had an idea of what was going on. "I think whoever really committed that murder and wanted to frame us, they took Hutch, for whatever reason. We were talkin' about it yesterday. And somethin' happened last night... not sure what, but we both crashed early. Possibly we were drugged."

"You could be right," Dobey grunted. "I'll see what I can find out. In the meantime, you stay out of sight yourself."

"Captain, I'm not gonna just sit around here while no one knows where Hutch is!" Starsky snapped.

"You'll do as I say, Starsky!" Dobey shouted back, then, lowering his voice, he added "We don't want you both out of action. You'll be no good to anyone if someone catches you."

"Well, I guess..." Starsky responded slowly, acknowledging the truth of what Dobey said, although he wasn't happy about leaving Hutch to whatever fate had befallen him. Dobey didn't know, but Starsky had no intention of staying in the room doing nothing. "Is there any news on the case?" he asked quietly, conscious of the other people around in the street.

"We've got a guy in for questioning. He was spotted acting suspiciously at the hotel last night," Dobey informed him.

Starsky smiled slightly. "That reminds me of a guy I saw, the last night I was there. He was 'acting suspiciously'. Turned out he was just looking for his girlfriend."

"Huh. Maybe it's the same guy. Listen, I'll try and come by later, and see if we can work anything out."

They discussed the situation for a couple of minutes more, then Starsky thanked the captain, hung up and returned to his room, where he proceeded to write down anything he could think of that would help, in preparation for Dobey's next visit.

***

Gary had allowed Liam to have his fun, and Liam had spent the time while Hutch was unconscious to hit and kick him as much as possible, yet without doing too much damage. Gary had told his brother that they needed to get their revenge against this man, and frighten him as much as they could in payment for what he had done, and what Gary had said must be right, so Liam had tried his best to please his brother. Now, Liam was looking forward to Hutchinson waking up, so they could continue their work.

After a few hours, Hutch did wake up, groaning as he registered the beating that must have taken place while he was out. Everything hurt, and he guessed that these guys weren't finished carrying out their revenge for whatever supposed injustice he had committed against them. He was right. He found it difficult to think too, it felt as though there was a fog over his mind, and he was no longer sure what was going on.

Noticing that the cop was awake again, Gary appeared in front of him, and showed him the needle he held in his hand, dangling it in front of Hutch's face. "Hello, Hutch. You want some of this?" he asked, smirking evilly.

"No, I don't," Hutch moaned, weakly trying to slap it away. Even through the fog in his mind, he knew that needles were very bad. He could vaguely remember another time when someone had forced the contents of a needle on him. However, he couldn't stop Gary from grabbing his arm, and Hutch flinched violently as Gary forced the needle in roughly, emptying it of its contents.

Gary knelt down in front of Hutch, while Liam watched with interest, and held up four fingers of his his hand. "How many fingers?"

Hutch blinked and tried to focus. "Four."

"No, there are five. Tell me you see five."

"But there are four." Hutch was convinced of this.

"We'll work on that. Now, what if I told you we'd got your partner?"

"Starsk..."

"Yeah. Starsky. We got him. Now, you be a good boy and do as we say, and Starsky will be fine. But if you don't, we'll find a way to punish him, and he'll know it was your fault."

"Not my fault..." Hutch found it difficult to think, let alone speak, but he still knew he had to defend himself and his partner.

"Yes it is. Because you killed that man in the hotel, remember?" Gary stared at Hutch intently.

"No..." Hutch shook his head.

"You did. You killed him, and the sooner you realise that, the better it will be for everyone."

Hutch didn't remember much about that time, his memories seemed to be an incoherent blur, and he couldn't remember what was real and what was imagined. What if these men were right? He didn't think they were, but how could he know? He and Starsky had hated that Thompson, and the man might have blown their cover. Wouldn't it have made sense for one of them to do away with him? This man, his kidnapper, had told him that he had killed the guy who had fought with Starsky, and hoped to blame it on the original killer. What if that was true? But then, why couldn't he remember?

Gary was speaking again. "We've got Starsky, you know. He's in worse shape than you are. Now, I want you to admit that you killed that man, and we'll let him go."

"I didn't ..."

"You did. Admit it, or we'll carry on beating Starsky."

Hutch knew they were in trouble, but Starsky wouldn't want him to give in. But if these men were hurting Starsky, he couldn't allow that to continue. He was confused, he didn't know what to do, and he cried out in frustration.

Gary was very satisfied with the way his plan was progressing so far. The drug was working, and Hutchinson was becoming more uncertain about what had really happened. Soon, he would damage Hutchinson's mind further, and he would have his revenge.

***

TBC


	12. Chapter 12

**Yes, I really did post two chapters within a week of each other! Sorry for keeping you waiting, guys (and thanks, Janet!); I don't mean to leave it so long between posting, but we know how real life gets in the way of stories. Here's another chapter to (hopefully) make up for it. Thanks so much for all the reads and kind reviews!**

*******

**Chapter 12**

Dobey arrived at Starsky's room later that afternoon, and they went through everything they could think of in relation to the recent events. Starsky had come to suspect the involvement of drugs in last night's events, and as a precaution he hadn't used anything in the room that he suspected could contain the stuff. Items from the room could now be tested. Starsky was even more determined and focused than usual, driven by his need to find Hutch and ensure his safety. He was enraged that not only did they still have their original case to solve, but now someone had made things a whole lot more complicated, and taken his best friend and partner too.

Dobey spoke about the man who had been brought in for questioning, and from the man's explanation of his 'suspicious' actions, it seemed that he was the same man Starsky had followed on his last night in the hotel; the man who had been looking for his girlfriend.

Dobey listened to Starsky's explanation of how and where he had seen the man before, and came up with an idea. "Do you think there's any chance that this guy saw you when you saw him?"

Starsky considered the idea. "There could be a chance."

Dobey thought for a moment, stroking his chin as he did so. "Good. You should meet with him, talk to him. If he remembers you, and knows roughly what time he saw you, then that could be what you need to get you out of trouble. People think you were the one that was more likely to have killed Thompson, but the coroner had an approximate time of death for him, so if that man can confirm your whereabouts at that time..."

Starsky's face took on a more hopeful look, as he realised the truth of what Dobey had said. "I need to talk to him."

"Yeah. If you come back with me now, you can. If he can prove that you were nowhere near the hotel bar when that guy was killed, then you'll be out of trouble with the police. Then we just have to find out who really did commit all those murders. And who's got Hutch." Dobey lowered his voice on the last sentence, aware of its potential effect on Starsky.

Starsky got to his feet slowly and walked around the room, thinking. Dobey stood too and watched him for a second, before looking at his watch and gesturing to his detective. "Come on, Starsky. No time like the present. Do you owe the man downstairs anything?"

Starsky smiled grimly. "Even if I do, I can't pay it. Hutch has still got my wallet."

After Dobey had settled the bill with the motel owner, they left the building quickly, making sure no one was watching, and headed for Dobey's car. "I'm not sorry to see the back of that place," Starsky commented, "It couldn't compare to the last place I stayed in."

***

Hutch had been with his captors for a few days now, he thought. He wasn't sure, but the room had got dark and then light again a few times.

Gary had allowed Liam to have some more fun with Hutch, but not so much that they wouldn't be able to continue their vengeful experiment. Hutch would be no use if he couldn't appreciate what was happening to him. However, that hadn't stopped them from applying beatings, more drugs, and knife threats. Gary's use of drugs had also made it difficult for Hutch to measure the passage of time.

Now, Gary wanted to explain to Hutch exactly what he had done to warrant this punishment. "You ruined everything," Gary informed his prisoner as he stood over him. "When you gave the evidence in that court, you destroyed my chance of having a good career. Not to mention my family."

Hutch didn't respond, but gazed at Gary blankly. He didn't remember having seen these two before, and had no idea what Gary was talking about.

"You remember that?" Gary continued. "You gave the evidence against our father, and he got sent down for years, so that I had to go home from college and look after Liam? Someone had to do it, and there _was_ no one else except me. But you didn't think of that, did you?"

Hutch continued to stare blankly. Even if he had known how to answer, he would have been unable to do so. He was no longer sure what was going on, but he vaguely remembered that these men said they had Starsky, and they were going to kill him. If only he could remember what he had to do to save his partner.

Gary continued speaking, oblivious to his prisoner's distress. "I could have been great. Do you know, some people said there was something wrong with me? But there wasn't. I knew my literature better than anyone."

Liam drifted over, coming to his older brother's aid. "He's smart, you know," he informed Hutch, as though confiding in him. "He reads books. And, he could have been rich, and famous, but because of you, he had to stop studying and come home."

Gary smiled at Liam, then looked back at Hutch as the smile disappeared from his face. "I want you to be scared like Liam was. Maybe then you'll think about the consequences of your actions in future."

_In future?_ Hutch thought. They weren't going to kill him yet then. That did make sense, they hadn't tried to starve him to death or let him die of thirst yet, although they weren't exactly generous. But he still had a more pressing concern on his mind. Locking his eyes with Gary's, Hutch concentrated hard on making himself understood. "Where's Starsky?"

Gary laughed and ignored the question. "So, are you scared yet?"

Hutch closed his eyes in frustration. He was using all his concentration and not getting anywhere. Almost everything hurt since these men had had their 'fun', and he was in no mood for this. If he'd been capable, he'd have had them on the ground and cuffed by now. There was something to be said for 'police brutality' in a situation like this.

Gary suddenly snatched Hutch's hand and applied force to the fingers. "I've told you what you have to say to save Starsky. Don't you remember what I said?"

"Gary!" Liam said in a loud whisper.

Gary looked at his brother in irritation, ignoring Hutch's quiet grunt of pain. "What?"

"Can't we mess with his mind some more?"

Gary grinned. "What did you have in mind?" Letting go of Hutch for the time being, he stood up and leaned in for his brother to whisper to him.

Liam's idea was good. The pair approached Hutch again, and Gary nudged him with his toe, causing a quiet whimper of pain that widened Gary's smile. "You're getting a new room, Hutch, and maybe when you feel like remembering, we'll talk again."

Dragging him to his feet and ignoring his further whimpers, the pair forced Hutch over to the closet and pushed him inside, slamming the door. Liam dragged a piece of furniture over without having to be told, which they used to ensure the door would remain closed.

Gary looked at Liam and nodded in approval. "Shall we go get dinner?"

Hutch heard the casual question and did his best to protest. "You morons are only making it worse for yourselves the longer you hold me here!" he called to them, banging his hand against the side of the closet and cursing to himself when he found that it hurt.

They ignored him and left the room, leaving Hutch in his claustrophobic prison.

He was still slightly confused from the drugs Gary had given him, but not so confused that he didn't know where they'd put him. He was determined not to lose his composure. He'd find out what these men wanted eventually, and he'd pretend to let them have it, and then he'd escape.

He did his best to hold onto that thought for the next few hours. Normally, he would have used meditation to stay calm and pass the time until the men returned, but this wasn't a normal situation. Vaguely, he thought that his captors had been gone a long time. _Bring back dinner for me, why don't you, _he thought sarcastically.

After several hours had passed, his determination had slipped slightly. He was glad it wasn't Starsky in this position; Starsky was the more claustrophobic one. But then for all he knew, those guys _could_ have done something like this to Starsky. And while Starsky might be the one that was more scared of confinement, Hutch wasn't exactly enjoying himself either.

The darkness, and pain, and worry for Starsky were all taking their toll. He started to fear that the two men were never coming back. Who would ever find him if they didn't? _He_ wasn't even sure what building he was in, so how could anyone else find it? Starsky usually saved him in the nick of time, but what if he couldn't this time? Starsky... who knew what these freaks had done to him? Hutch found himself starting to wish they would return, even if it meant more torment, for then at least he wouldn't be left alone in here.

He wrapped his arms around his knees and tried hard to think of fun times he'd had with his friend.

***

Gary re-entered the room some hours later, and he and his brother shoved the heavy furniture away from the closet door, opening it to reveal a noticeably scared Hutch. He appeared to be trying to control growing panic; he gazed at Gary pleadingly with wide eyes, breathing hard, and Gary knew that their treatment of him was starting to have its desired effect.

Hutch's stare was still slightly defiant however, now that the door was open, and Gary thought it worth trying some new torment. "Remember now, Hutchie," he began, his tone almost sounding kind, "what you have to do to save Starsky, and yourself, is admit to me that you killed that man."

"I killed him," Hutch informed Gary tonelessly.

Gary looked at him, surprised, then lifted an admonishing finger, shaking his head. "Disappointing. You didn't really mean that, did you? When you do mean it, then I'll listen to you. We'll just have to keep teaching you your lesson."


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

Starsky had met with the man from the hotel, who might have proved to be a valuable witness. He sat remembering the events from the interview, as he tried to figure out what to do to find Hutch.

_Starsky strode purposefully into the interview room, where the man from the hotel was sitting, and had quickly sat down opposite him. "Remember me?"_

_The man had smirked and waved his index finger at Starsky. "You were following me in the hotel a couple of nights ago. I gotta say, for a cop, you weren't very inconspicuous."_

_Starsky half-smiled back. "That's right. I thought you were acting suspiciously."_

_Dobey stepped in and swiftly introduced them "Detective Starsky, meet Ray Jensen."_

_Starsky continued swiftly. "Nice to meet you. You've heard about the murders at the hotel?"_

"_Yeah..." The other man's expression turned serious._

"_Well, this is really important. Do you remember what time it was when you saw me? You know, that night when you were looking for your lady?" Starsky leaned forward in his seat and appealed to the man as much as he could. _

_Ray thought, frowning slightly. "I do , 'cause I was meeting my girl after the card game she was going to. I'd been out while she was at her party, and when I met up with her I looked at my watch and it was two minutes past three in the morning."_

_Dobey had interjected, "And the coroner had about that as the time of death. That might not prove anything."_

_Ray spoke again. "But I heard the scream from inside our room, and that was just a second after I saw you. You couldn't have gone downstairs in that time."_

_Starsky had another idea. "Did you see anyone else, when you came into the building?"_

_The man thought for a minute, closing his eyes as he tried to picture the scene. "Actually, yes. I saw two men downstairs. They were hanging around by the staircase."_

"_Anything unusual about them?"_

"_Aside from the fact that they were hanging around at 3 in the morning and tried to hide when I passed them?" Ray grinned. _

_Starsky looked at Dobey. "They could have been our guys." He looked back at Ray. "Can you tell us anything else? What did they look like?"_

"_I'd guess they were both in their twenties. One was older, but they looked a lot alike. Both had dark hair, medium height."_

_Dobey exchanged another look with Starsky, then patted the shoulder of the man. "Thanks for the information, you've been a great help. You can go for now," the captain told him. Starsky had nodded in agreement as Ray got up to leave. _

Now, Starsky was going through old files from cases Hutch had worked on, and piling up the ones that he thought had any relevance at all, based on the descriptions Ray had given them.

****

Gary had left Hutch out of the closet and now had him tied to the room's table. The tv was on, and Gary had tied Hutch so that he faced it, although Hutch wasn't particularly interested in what was on the screen, given the effort it took to remain upright.

Hutch sat staring into space, swaying slightly and wondering vaguely what had happened to his partner. Every time he had tried to resist his two kidnappers, he had been beaten into submission and threatened, and Starsky had been threatened, and no matter how many times he had demanded to see or speak to his partner, nothing had happened. He could no longer see the point in fighting back, except that Gary kept cheerily telling him how much trouble Starsky was in, and he couldn't stand that. Hutch couldn't leave Starsky in trouble. The problem was, he didn't know what to do.

Liam was very interested in the tv, and he sat on a chair at the table, watching intently and laughing loudly every time anything vaguely amusing came up.

The room door opened and Gary entered, carrying something wrapped in a dirty paper bag. Liam's eyes flickered from the tv to his brother and back again; the bag not managing to hold his interest. "What've you got in there?" he asked in a bored tone.

Gary grinned and pulled one end of the bag open slightly to reveal a distinct rodent face. Liam jumped in alarm. "It's not a rat is it?"

"Yep."

"Why is it in here?"

"I found it sniffing around in the hall outside. I think it's neat."

"It's not, take it back out!"

Gary ignored his brother, peering into the bag. "I wonder if blondie here likes animals." He wandered over to his captive. "Hutch, look, I brought you a pet." Hutch barely gave the animal any attention, having other things to worry about.

Liam jumped in alarm again as the rat started to noisily chew the bag it resided in. "Seriously, Gary, take it out!"

"Hang on." Gary shoved it at Hutch, causing Hutch to instinctively scoot back nearer to the wall he sat against, although he couldn't go far with his hands tied in front of him. "Don't you like animals Hutch? I do."

"Prefer p-plants," Hutch stuttered, staring up at Gary nervously. Who knew what the obviously-mad man would come up with next?

"You can't stroke a plant." Gary laughed loudly at his own comment. "D'you want to stroke the rat?"

"No... s'dirty," Hutch told him.

"I never had any pets, you know." Gary held the bag up close to his own face and peered at the rat.

Hutch shut his eyes and put his head down. He didn't care about Gary's back story any more, he just wanted to get Starsky and get out of here. Unfortunately he had no idea how he should do that, and he couldn't think clearly.

Gary had continued to drug Hutch into submission. He was lucky to have a friend who had been a chemistry student, although that friend didn't know what his knowledge was being used for. Now he was sure that the continued physical abuse, as well as the emotional, was having its effect on Hutch, and the drugs that clouded the detective's mind were also helping matters.

Gary was now bored, though. Hutch was being stubborn and there hadn't been enough progress for Gary's liking, although Hutch was starting to show some signs of agreeing with Gary's suggestions. Gary finally gave in to his brother's pleas and took the rat out to the street, where he released it. Re-entering the room, he strolled over to his enemy, crouched in front of him and forced Hutch's chin up to look into his eyes.

"Well, Hutch? Do you know what you need to do to save yourself and your partner?"

Hutch remained silent. After repeated beating and drugging, and not being sure how many days had passed, he was less sure of himself now, and thought it best to stay quiet, although he did know that he and his partner were in danger from whoever these men were.

Gary decided to try again with a method that had proven effective before. He picked up Hutch's right hand, and said in a conversational tone, "How hard do you think I need to push before your finger breaks?"

"Don't... I don't know what you want from me!" Hutch tried vainly to pull his hand away from the firm grip.

"I want you to believe what I tell you." Gary pressed Hutch's finger slightly as a threat. "And you do know what I want from you. And if you don't give me what I want, we're going to kill Starsky, and then you, and have as much fun as we can while we do it."

What Hutch didn't realise, thought Gary, was that they had absolutely no intention of killing him, since this treatment was much more fun, and a suitable punishment as far as Gary was concerned for messing up his career plans and scaring his little brother.

Gary unconsciously began to apply more force to Hutch's hand as he thought, and it definitely had an effect, which Gary noticed as soon as he came out of his reverie. He could have sworn Hutch had tears in his eyes. Then again, that wasn't surprising, considering the treatment he'd been given.

Trying his luck, Gary pushed slightly harder. "Come on, Hutchie. You don't want us to do this to Starsky again, do you?"

Under the abuse, and confused, Hutch suddenly snapped. "I'm sorry, I don't remember what you wanted me to do. Just tell me what it was!"

Gary increased the force of his grip. "Are you sure you mean it? Because you know what we'll do to your partner..."

"Yeah, I'll think whatever you want, just make it stop!" Hutch begged, gritting his teeth against the pain.

"To save Starsky..." Gary began slowly. "You have to admit that you killed that man. It's not so difficult."

Hutch hesitated, and Gary gestured to Liam. "Help me out here kid."

"What do you want me to do?" Liam asked, playing along.

"Go next door and tell Starsky that his partner doesn't care what happens to him any more. Then you can have some fun with him." Unseen by Hutch, Gary winked at Liam, and Liam left the room, grinning to himself. Hutch couldn't know that they really didn't have Starsky here.

"No!" Hutch shouted. "Okay, maybe I did do it..."

"Do you really think that or are you just saying it?" Gary asked, staring into Hutch's eyes.

"Really!"

"Prove it. Prove that you believe me. I want you to believe what I tell you. If I tell you there are five fingers here, how many are there?" Gary demanded, showing Hutch four.

"Five."

"If I tell you the moon is made of cheese, is it?"

"Yes," Hutch answered weakly.

"Is it?"

"Yes!"

"It's all your fault, isn't it Hutch?"

"It's all my fault."

"Good. Correct answer." Satisfied at the progress, Gary gave Hutch's fingers one hard jerk, causing a cry of pain which Hutch tried to stifle, then released Hutch's hand and stood up, leaving Hutch where he was.

Hutch definitely had tears in his eyes, Gary decided. "Just leave us alone," the blond begged, obviously despairing.

"That can be arranged." Gary closed the curtains, making the room almost completely dark, and left to find his brother.

In the dark, Hutch had plenty of time for thought. It was all his fault. If they'd hurt Starsky, he could have prevented that. He hoped it wasn't too late.

TBC


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

Since Starsky had talked to the man from the hotel, he had been spending his time talking to as many informants as he could get his hands on, and he had discovered, somewhat obviously, that someone was indeed out to get revenge on Hutch. He had managed to find out that two men, matching the descriptions of the men Ray had seen, had been asking around as to Hutch's whereabouts a couple of weeks ago, and Starsky was convinced that these were the two that had been seen in the hotel.

He was aware that the original hotel murders had still not been solved yet, but he had more pressing concerns at that moment. Starsky now suspected that the two men who had been seen in the hotel had murdered their old academy-mate, and then later taken Hutch, although he had yet to piece together the whole story. Hopefully Hutch could help him with that when he was found, if he wasn't too badly hurt. Starsky refused to accept that Hutch might be too badly hurt, because that was unthinkable.

Now, he had the name of a cheap hotel where the two men had been seen, and also their names: Gary and Liam Riley.

***

Taking Captain Dobey and two officers with him, Starsky burst into the small hotel that he'd been told about and approached the man at the desk, showing his badge. "Detective Starsky. We're looking for two men, Gary and Liam Riley. Do you know them?"

The man shrugged unhelpfully. "Names don't ring a bell."

Starsky kept his temper admirably. "Okay, have you seen anyone here acting strangely in the last few days? Two guys, young, dark-haired?"

The man thought for a minute. "There were two guys came in a few days ago that I thought were a little strange. They wanted a specific room number. Well, one of them did. The other one just kinda hung in the background."

"What room number?" Starsky still kept his temper in check as he stared intently at the man.

The man thought, screwing up his eyes as he did so. "Uh... number 101."

As soon as the last digit was out of the man's mouth, Starsky was away, running up the stairs without waiting to hear more. He paused outside room 101, gun drawn, and banged on the door from his position beside it. Receiving no answer, he reached down and turned the door knob, finding it unlocked. He moved quickly around the doorjamb, ending up positioned with his gun pointing into the room, and surveyed the scene ahead of him. Hutch was sat on the floor against the wall with his hands tied behind him, and apparently not aware of what was going on. Two other men were sat at a table near Hutch, calmly playing chess.

"Freeze! Police!", Starsky yelled, trying to keep his eyes on the two men at the table but unable to keep his gaze from flickering to Hutch every few seconds.

Gary remained where he was, almost seeming not to notice Starsky. "No, Liam, the knight can't move like that," he told his younger brother patiently.

Two other uniformed officers entered the room behind Starsky, and began to cautiously approach the two brothers. "Take them in," Starsky ordered, and ran over to his partner.

Kneeling in front of Hutch, Starsky took in his partner's appearance, and placed a hand against his face.

Hutch pulled miserably at the rope around his hands. "Can't untie it. It's my fault."

"Hutch? It's me. What's your fault?" Starsky pressed his hand harder against Hutch's face.

Hutch took a shaky breath. "All of it. It's my fault they killed you, Starsk." Hutch genuinely believed that his refusal to comply with Gary and Liam's orders had really resulted in their taking it out on Starsky. They had said they were going to hurt Starsky worse, and even kill him, and Hutch had really thought they had Starsky captive in another room too. The two crazed men could easily have killed Starsky in revenge for Hutch not doing as they ordered. Now he couldn't believe that Starsky was actually here to save him; instead believing that this Starsky was some sort of drug-induced hallucination.

Shock washed over Starsky at that statement. "I'm not dead. I'm here, and I'm fine. It's safe now." Starsky wondered what the hell this pair had done to make Hutch so confused, although when he lifted Hutch's chin to look into obviously drugged eyes, he could guess part of it. The bruises covering the blond's face hinted at another part of it. Now Hutch believed he was dead? What had they threatened him with? And Hutch believed that whatever it was was his fault. Starsky sighed as he gently brushed his fingers down Hutch's face. He was going to have his work cut out for him now.

Captain Dobey stepped up behind Starsky and looked down at Hutch. "He all right?"

"I don't think so, Cap," Starsky responded. Hutch sat perfectly still, shaking and not protesting when Starsky searched for other injuries. The most obvious damage was to Hutch's hands, although Starsky had an unpleasant suspicion about damage to Hutch's mind. "Better get an ambulance." With that said, he sat on the floor next to Hutch and placed an arm around him. Hutch simply stared at the floor for a few seconds, until Starsky nudged him gently. "Hey. It's okay now."

Hutch gave him a small attempt at a smile, but made no attempt to move nearer, nor any sign of relief that Starsky was there.

***

Starsky and Dobey had been made to wait outside an exam room for Hutch, and threatened by a strict nurse to stay put. The captain sat on a plastic chair sipping coffee while Starsky paced the floor in front of him.

Dobey had spoken to the officers who had taken the brothers in, and was explaining the Rileys' actions to Starsky as they waited. "The older one was a student. Years ago, Hutch gave evidence against their dad in court and he got put away. The younger one was just a kid at the time, and the older guy had to go home and look after him. I don't think the younger one's mind is all there, if you know what I mean."

Starsky grunted. "Doesn't excuse what they did."

"I know that," Dobey replied, studying his cup.

Starsky was no longer listening. He was trying to see through a gap in the door, and failing. "What's taking 'em so long?"

Dobey continued his explanation, sensing that the question was rhetorical. "The older one was obsessed with books. He tries to apply them to real life. Especially the parts with..." Dobey hesitated, glancing at Starsky, "...torture."

Starsky still had his hand pressed against the glass in the door, although he couldn't see anything through the closed shutters. He was surprised that Hutch hadn't insisted on his presence in the room, but then, Hutch's behaviour hadn't been normal at any time since he was rescued. He'd barely said anything to Starsky, except to admit that he was to blame for some unknown crime, and had refused to look his friend in the eye. He'd also been uncharacteristically submissive.

Finally, a short, middle-aged nurse emerged from the exam room and approached Starsky. "Detective Starsky? You're his partner, correct?"

Starsky nodded, trying to see past her into the room. "Yes."

"I'm Nurse Balmer. How long have you known him?" The nurse held a clipboard poised.

Starsky looked the small woman in the eye. "We've been _police _partners for eight years."

The woman nodded, understanding crossing her face. "You can see him now. But be warned... he isn't exactly himself. The doctor can tell you more."

Starsky didn't need any more inviting, and he pushed past her almost rudely in his hurry to enter the room. Hutch was sitting on the edge of the bed, staring at his hands, and didn't react as Starsky approached.

Starsky walked over to him cautiously, although all he wanted to do was rush to his friend and give him a comforting hug.

Reaching Hutch's side, he put a hand out carefully to touch Hutch's shoulder. "Hey buddy. It's me. How ya doing?" He could have kicked himself for asking the stupid question, but he had to say something to get Hutch talking to him.

Hutch looked up at Starsky disinterestedly, with his eyes not focused on his face. "Starsk, aren't you dead? They killed you. Was my fault." He looked at his hands again.

That alarmed Starsky no end. He tried again. "Hutch... I _am _Starsky. You're safe now, you're in the hospital and I'm here. And I'm alive," he added emphatically.

"Gary, if this is another trick... just stop. Leave Starsky alone. Too late..."

Starsky held Hutch's face and turned it so that Hutch had to look into his eyes. "Hutch, look at me. Do I look like I'm dead? I'm here." Afterward, Starsky thought that maybe that hadn't been the smartest question to ask, considering how little sleep he'd had lately.

Hutch ignored him and pulled his face free of Starsky's grip, looking down again. The doctor chose that moment to approach Starsky, and with a hand on Starsky's shoulder, he guided him some distance away from Hutch.

"Detective... I'm Dr Lowe. From what I can tell, your friend was subjected to extreme physical and emotional abuse." He paused to let Starsky take this information in. "He doesn't trust anyone right now, and he's experiencing guilt for some supposed crime he committed. He also seems to think he failed you, his partner, in some way."

Starsky swallowed hard, trying not to show what he felt about this revelation. "Will he recover?"

"Physically, yes, it won't be too long. But mentally... that may take a little longer." The doctor chose his words carefully, sensing Starsky's tension.

"Well, what do you think is wrong?" Starsky shifted where he stood to be able to watch Hutch, who still stared at his hands as he flexed his fingers.

"He's been subjected to certain... conditioning. They convinced him that he was to blame for what happened to him, and he seems to think that he caused them to torture you too. And they drugged him to make him more compliant, so that he's still experiencing the effects of that."

Starsky glanced at his friend, who was sitting on the edge of the bed swinging his feet and staring at the floor.

"Also – he's going to be nervous about people getting too near to him," the doctor continued.

Starsky gave him a questioning look, and the doctor explained. "In the last several days, no one's touched him for any purpose other than to hurt him."

Unseen by the doctor, Starsky clenched his fists, then nodded in understanding.

"Look, doc, I'm the best friend he's got. Let me try and help him, huh? I think I can get through to him."

The doctor thought for a moment, then came to a decision. "Alright, you can try it. From what he's said to me, he thinks very highly of you. But if it doesn't appear to be working, or he gets worse in any way, you bring him straight back, alright?"

"Right." Starsky was confident that he could fix his friend, given time. Anything else was unthinkable.

"Okay then," the doctor led the way back into the room, where Starsky carefully approached Hutch again, trying not to startle him.

"Hey babe, it's time to go home."

Hutch lifted his head to look at Starsky. "I wish I was at home with Starsky."

Trying to ignore the strange way that Hutch spoke about him, Starsky answered cheerfully, "Well, that's where we're going."

He held out a hand to Hutch. Hutch nearly leapt off the bed when he first saw the movement, before staring at the hand for a second and cautiously taking it with his own undamaged hand.

After signing all the necessary papers and promising to keep the doctor updated on Hutch's condition, Starsky was free to take his friend home.

As he carefully loaded Hutch into the Torino, Starsky was concerned by the absolute silence. Not even a critical comment about having to go home in the tomato car. As he got in on the driver's side, Starsky could have sworn that Hutch slid further away from him until he was leaning on the door.

"Hutch – you wanna talk?"

Hutch shook his head. Starsky, concentrating on the road, missed the gesture and bit his lip in concern that Hutch seemed to have ignored him.

Starsky drove in silence for a while longer, sneaking occasional glances at the silent man beside him. He hoped he was doing the right thing, and that he was going to be able to get through to his traumatised partner.

TBC


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

As they arrived at Hutch's home, Starsky stopped the car, glanced over at his friend, and began to wonder if this was such a good idea. He'd opted to come to the more familiar surroundings of Hutch's home, hoping that it might do some good, but Hutch still didn't appear to know that he was safe, and watched warily as Starsky came around to his side of the car to open the door, leaning away slightly as Starsky offered his hand.

Starsky still wasn't sure he was doing the right thing; he meant well, but if this was going to do more harm than good... He just had to hope that friendship and care would be enough to help Hutch.

Starsky sighed and crouched down next to his partner, looking into his face, while Hutch continued to look at his own lap. "Hutch, I promise it's safe now. Those guys aren't going to come back. And we've got all the time we need for you to tell me what went on. If you want to."

Hutch looked up into Starsky's eyes briefly, then quickly looked away again as Starsky smiled.

"Come on, boy," Starsky stroked Hutch's arm once, then carefully placed a hand under the arm, mindful of broken fingers. _What the hell did they do to you? _he wondered, not for the first time.

After a brief standoff, with Hutch refusing to exit the car and Starsky trying his best to reassure him, Hutch got out unwillingly and they made it into his apartment.

Inside the building, Starsky guided Hutch to the couch, and stood for a moment staring worriedly at his partner, who sat perfectly still staring at the floor again.

Starsky took a deep breath, opened his mouth, closed it again, then decided to just ask outright. "Hutch... you do know who I am, don't you?"

Hutch was still confused by Gary's drugs and abuse, and while the man in front of him certainly seemed to be Starsky, he didn't see how it could be, especially when his captors had told him in detail how they'd hurt his friend. And how could he forget the final punishment that Gary had sent Liam to give to Starsky, just before he had admitted that his kidnappers were right? Hutch wished he had been able to fight back sooner, but he hadn't known what to do to prevent it.

"I-I'm not sure", he answered, gazing at Starsky as if trying to ponder a particularly difficult question.

Starsky sat down slowly on the other end of the couch, sighing, and causing Hutch to edge away from him again.

"Hutch... " he pleaded, reaching a hand towards him. Hutch still eyed him warily.

Starsky took a chance, and moved up the sofa nearer to him. "You wanna talk to me, partner?"

"Partner?"

Starsky answered the disbelieving tone gently. "Yeah, partner. What's the matter, don't you believe me?"

Hutch flinched violently at those gentle words, causing Starsky to jump too, and squashed himself even further into the end of the couch. "I told you Gary, I believe you, now leave us alone!"

That worried Starsky, but he reached over anyway and placed an arm around Hutch's shoulders, doing his best to ignore the resulting flinch, and spoke to him calmingly. "Hey, it's okay." No answer from Hutch. "No-one's gonna hurt you now, you're safe... The two men who hurt you were arrested and Dobey's taking care of it."

"It was my fault, you know," Hutch told him quietly.

"No, it wasn't," Starsky told him firmly, biting back the anger he felt at what those criminals had done, and tightening his arm around Hutch.

At the whimper this caused, Starsky reluctantly moved away again, reminding himself that this would most likely take time. But why was Hutch looking at him as if he thought he was going to be attacked?

Sneaking a sideways look at Hutch, Starsky realised that the man was obviously exhausted, but seemed to be afraid to sleep. "Hey," he said gently. Hutch looked up briefly, but didn't meet his eyes. "You tired?"

Hutch shook his head, but the mention of tiredness triggered a yawn which he tried to hide behind his hand.

Starsky suppressed a grin. "Not tired, huh?" Realising that his continued presence probably wasn't doing anything to make Hutch feel safer, he opted to leave the room and see if Hutch would feel safe enough to fall asleep. He made the decision and stood up, unfortunately startling Hutch, who quickly tried to hide his surprise. Starsky headed towards the kitchen. "Can I get ya anything, pal?"

Hutch shook his head silently, again – he seemed to be doing that a lot lately - and Starsky continued on his way. He stood still in the kitchen for a moment, out of Hutch's sight, thinking, then leaned back against the counter while he tried to decide what to do.

Peering back into the living room, he saw that Hutch had indeed closed his eyes, with his head resting on his good hand on the arm of the couch, although he still looked as though he would wake up at the first sign of anyone approaching him.

Deciding that Hutch probably needed sleep more than anything else at the moment, Starsky opted to stay where he was, and started going through Hutch's cupboards. He already knew what he would find but he was curious. Almost automatically, he began removing the items from the cupboard, looking at their labels, and replacing them in alphabetical order. As he carried out this unthinking activity, his mind was going over the facts of the murder case, as well as what he knew about the people who had kidnapped his partner.

An hour later, realising what he had been doing almost unconsciously, Starsky observed his work with a hint of confusion, then nodded and started to walk across the kitchen, but before he could start on organising the fridge, the sound of quiet, cautious footsteps distracted him. He listened, waiting until they got nearer and finally stopped. Before he could turn to look at the doorway, Hutch's voice quietly asked "What're you doing?"

"Thinking..." Starsky replied. He slowly turned to look at Hutch, and saw with some relief that Hutch's gaze appeared to be a little clearer now, and had lost some of the confused expression, although he still wasn't looking Starsky in the eye.

"Hey partner, are you back with us?" Starsky asked him, smiling gently.

Hutch shrugged. "Depends. Where are you?"

"I'm right here."

"Me too."

Starsky took a step towards him, carefully, not wanting to scare him off. Just because the drugs were wearing off, didn't mean Hutch was completely back to normal. "Did you sleep okay on that couch, buddy? That position can't have done your back any good."

Hutch smiled slightly. "I'm okay."

"You need anything?" Starsky asked, watching him carefully. "You wanna talk to me?" When he didn't seem to be getting a response, Starsky gestured to the cupboards behind him. "I tidied your kitchen for you. Your soup cans were all over the place."

Hutch smiled again, and looked around the kitchen. Was it Starsky's imagination, or did he look... nervous?

Starsky sighed. "Hutch... you know I'm not gonna hurt you, don't you? We're partners, best pals. You and me, Starsky and Hutch-"

"Me and thee," Hutch interrupted softly. The last of the drugged look faded from his eyes, and he seemed to really see Starsky. "Starsk..." Starsky was sure he caught the faint glint of tears in Hutch's eyes, and moved quickly, grabbing Hutch and pulling him into a tight hug. Hutch tried to pull back from him at first, but Starsky held on tighter until Hutch accepted the hug and began to return it one-handed, as Starsky tried once more to control his rage at Hutch's tormentors. That would have to wait.

TBC


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

Eventually, Starsky allowed Hutch to pull back from the hug, and he regarded him carefully. "How you doing?"

"Okay."

"You wanna take a shower or something? Then I'll see if I can find some unicorn horns for you to eat."

That forced a small grin out of Hutch. "I don't actually eat all the stuff you think I do, you know."

Starsky grinned back. "You're not supposed to admit to that."

"Oh, okay. Sure, find the unicorn horns. If you can remember where you put them when you tidied up."

Starsky gave him a gentle shove towards the bathroom. "Go on." As Hutch departed, he called after him, "They'll be filed under "U" of course!"

Starsky was relieved that Hutch was showing signs of acting more normally, but something still wasn't quite right, and he was determined to watch over Hutch until he found out what this was and made it better.

In the meantime, he went back to the newly-organised cupboards and searched the cans until he found what he was looking for, and emptied one into a pan.

He was concerned that Hutch still hadn't properly looked him in the eye, and wasn't quite acting normally. Hutch couldn't be expected to act normally after what had happened, but they usually could communicate with just a look, and that wasn't happening now. And Hutch had tried to resist his physical contact at first, when that was normally such a large part of the comfort between them.

Starsky was still pondering this when Hutch emerged from the bathroom, wearing his familiar outfit of brown pants and orange sweater.

Starsky gave him an encouraging smile. "Hey buddy, you okay?"

"Yeah..." Hutch fingered the hem of his sweater for a moment, then headed over to Starsky, who grabbed Hutch's arm to give support as he wobbled slightly.

"I found the unicorn." Starsky gestured to the pan, which obviously contained non-unicorn soup, as Hutch peered inside. "Come on." He grabbed the pan, bowls, and Hutch, and headed for the table.

They sat down, and Starsky decided that now might be a good time to try some careful questioning.

"What did those guys want, Hutch? I mean, what did they do to you?" He couldn't stand the thought of Hutch being punished for some perceived insult to those idiots, and was practically ready to go and beat them to a pulp the instant Hutch told him what they had done.

"They didn't hurt me, really. I mean, they did," Hutch looked down at his damaged hand, "but not as much as they could have done, I guess. They just wanted to scare the hell out of me."

"And did they?" Starsky asked softly.

Hutch made no pretence of bravado in front of Starsky. "Yeah, for some of the time. When I had no idea what they were gonna do next, and they convinced me they had you captive as well, and they told me they'd done these... horrible things to you." Hutch paused to take a deep breath, and Starsky automatically reached over to put a hand on his partner's arm where it rested on the tabletop.

Hutch snatched his arm away reflexively, thinking of Gary, and Starsky flinched too. "Sorry... I'm not gonna hurt you."

"I know that!" Hutch snapped.

Starsky gave a half-smile of acknowledgement, and they sat in silence for a few minutes, each man thinking, until Starsky came up with another question.

"So what did they want you to do?"

"Well, they blamed me for putting their father away," Hutch began. Starsky nodded, and Hutch continued. "And the older one, Gary, he said it had scared his little brother, and he wanted to repay me for that." Starsky nodded again, controlling his temper as he thought about the stupidity of those criminals. "And then, he wanted to... I'm not sure why, but he wanted me to believe whatever he told me, so that I'd admit that it was my fault. I don't know, it's kind of fuzzy."

"That was the drugs he gave you," Starsky thought aloud.

Hutch thought again for a moment, remembering more of his time with the two criminals. "Starsk? They tried to make me... they almost made me believe I killed that man in the hotel," Hutch said sadly. He looked down, tracing a pattern on the tabletop where some of the soup had spilled.

"Hutch, it would have made more sense for _me _to have killed Thompson," Starsky joked, and instantly regretted it as Hutch's eyes widened in alarm, reminding him that his friend wasn't totally back to normal yet. "Hutch, I was kidding!"

Hutch nodded, although he looked far from convinced, and carried on voicing his thoughts. "Uhm, he – he got me to say it was all my fault."

"You don't believe that," Starsky said firmly. "You were just doing your duty as an officer of the law, and they can't punish you for that." He nodded decisively.

"But he was right. I didn't think of the consequences when I gave the evidence against their dad. Maybe I should have." Hutch continued to draw patterns on the table. It was all coming back to him now.

Starsky paused a moment, unsure how to answer that, and Hutch gave him a sad, knowing smile. "You see? You think so too."

Starsky stared at Hutch, before coming up with an answer. "No, of course I don't think that. Come on, Hutch, imagine if for everyone you arrested, you asked them what the consequences would be? 'Sir, you're under arrest, and by the way, do you have any family that might feel the consequences?'"

After that, there was a short silence, then Hutch pushed himself up from the table and disappeared into the bedroom, and Starsky immediately got up to follow. He didn't like this scared, submissive Hutch at all. It was so unlike his usual character, and Starsky was beginning to wonder what he would have to do to get his old friend back.

He peered through the bedroom doorway to find Hutch sitting on the floor against the wall, staring at his hands.

Starsky slowly crouched down next to him. "Hey babe, what're you doing down here? There's a comfy bed over there."

Hutch shook his head. "I don't deserve it."

_Uh oh, that can't be a good sign, _Starsky thought. "What d'you mean?" he asked carefully, trying to keep his tone light.

"I don't deserve the 'comfy bed'. I'll stay down here."

"Hey, listen to me, Hutch. You've done nothing wrong here. It's them who were in the wrong. Now get off the floor and on the bed if you wanna sleep, you can't be comfy down there."

Starsky stood up and offered a hand down to pull Hutch up, who shrank back from it. "Don't, Starsk." _I don't deserve any comfort. _Starsky almost heard Hutch's unspoken thought.

"You are not staying down there," Starsky informed him firmly. "Now come on." Without waiting for an answer, he grabbed Hutch's arm and hauled him up. He steered Hutch towards the bed, and sat him down on it.

Bending down to Hutch's eye level, he told him, "You go to sleep now, and when you wake up I want you to know that you haven't done anything wrong." Hutch started to interrupt, but Starsky wasn't allowing it. "No, do what I say for once. And when you wake up we'll talk, and then we'll see if you still think you don't deserve anything nice."

With that, he made sure Hutch was lying down and not about to go anywhere, and headed for the door. "I'll be just next door if you want me."

Hutch looked as though he was about to object to Starsky leaving, but he bit his lip and said nothing. Starsky, being Starsky, noticed immediately. "Okay, you want me to stay here?" He pulled forward a chair, sat in it, and took up a magazine, pulling a face as he looked at the picture on the front, discovering it to be a magazine about meditation, with a serene-looking blond man on the cover. "You don't really do this stuff, do you?" he muttered, then glanced over at Hutch. "I'm staying here, whether you like it or not. Now go to sleep."

TBC


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

The phone rang loudly, and Starsky shoved himself to his feet and hurried to it as fast as he could, before it disturbed Hutch, who was thankfully still asleep.

"Starsky," he said quietly into the receiver, taking it as far from Hutch as possible.

"Captain Dobey here," came the concerned voice on the other end. "I wanted an update on my men. How are you both doing?"

Starsky smiled at the way the captain asked about both of them. He also remembered with some guilt, that the captain hadn't had an update since the hospital, but taking care of Hutch had taken all Starsky's time and concentration, and Dobey would understand that.

"We're okay, Cap," he answered, sneaking a glance over at Hutch. "I mean, Hutch isn't really alright yet, but he's asleep now, and he's doing better than he was."

"Good," Dobey grunted. "Glad to hear it. Now how about you?"

"I'm fine," Starsky answered automatically, even while he yawned and reached to rub his shoulder. Of course, the captain heard the yawn and the ever-so-slight sound of pain that followed it.

"Sure you are," Dobey said, not believing him for a minute. "Take care of yourself, Starsky, and him too."

"Yeah," Starsky answered. "Was there anything else, Cap'n?"

"As a matter of fact, yes. A big something else."

Starsky raised his eyebrows, though Dobey couldn't see it, and asked "What else?"

Dobey cleared his throat. "It seems that the Riley brothers have confessed to murder. The murder of Thompson."

Starsky thought hard, before answering, "Makes sense, I guess, Captain. I'll explain it to Hutch when he wakes up, and then I'll come in and see you."

"Okay," Dobey answered. "Make sure that you do." Then, softening his tone, he added. "You boys take care of yourselves."

Starsky grinned his trademark grin, though Dobey couldn't see him. "We will, Captain. See you later."

He hung up the phone and sat back in his chair, staring into space thoughtfully.

Starsky sat watching over Hutch for several hours, and finally, after all the stress he had been under while Hutch had been missing, he fell asleep himself, one leg draped uncomfortably over the arm of the chair in which he sat, as the magazine he still held fell to the floor.

They remained in their positions, in peaceful silence, until Starsky's sneaker dropped off without him noticing, and the slight noise roused Hutch from his deep sleep.

Finally, Hutch woke up, and glanced around the room in confusion, before his gaze settled on Starsky, who was still sleeping near the bed, his chin pillowed on his hand and his leg still draped over the side of the chair. Hutch smiled at the vision of his partner; when he was asleep he showed his vulnerable side more than ever.

As if he was aware of the scrutiny, Starsky suddenly snapped awake, glancing around in disorientation before he noticed Hutch looking at him.

Forcing himself to wakefulness, he smiled at Hutch. "Hey partner, you sleep okay?"

Hutch rubbed a hand down his face, and smiled back at Starsky. "Yeah, thanks. You?" The question was accompanied by a smirk.

"Oh yeah, great." Starsky winced as he unhooked his foot from the arm of the chair and sat up straight.

He stood up from the chair gingerly, yawning, and crossed the room to flop on the bed next to Hutch, giving him a considering look. "So... have you realised the error of your ways?"

While Starsky meant the question good-humouredly, Hutch's face fell, and Starsky backtracked quickly, closing his eyes for a second in frustration. "I didn't mean that. I mean, did you realise that you didn't do anything wrong?"

Hutch stayed silent.

Starsky sighed quietly and looked up at the ceiling for inspiration.

He shifted up closer to Hutch, who shifted slightly away from him. This time Starsky grabbed his arm, forcing him to stay where he was. "No, you don't." Hutch gave him a strange look, partly anger and partly sadness, and there was something else... something that begged Starsky to make it all better.

"Okay, I'll talk and you shut up and listen." Starsky spoke firmly, and Hutch smirked slightly.

"I'm listening, Mom."

Starsky continued, ignoring Hutch's gentle mocking, although he was secretly pleased by it. "So, number one, you think that it's your fault that their dad went to prison."

Hutch glared down at the bed. "Isn't it? I mean, what if they were right? Maybe I should have considered them before."

Starsky shook his head, unable to believe what he was hearing. "You can't go on a guilt trip every time you send a criminal to jail. Okay, maybe you gave the evidence that may or may not have contributed to getting him sent there," Starsky sneaked a glance at Hutch, who appeared to be listening desperately, "but it's not your fault they got all messed up. Their dad probably did that to them long ago. You probably did them a favour by getting rid of him; they just don't realise it."

"Don't see how I did them a favour," Hutch muttered sulkily.

Starsky ignored him. "Number two, you probably feel guilty for wanting them to go to jail, when you think it's your fault that they're like this in the first place."

Hutch raised his eyebrows slightly in recognition of how well Starsky knew him.

"Maybe they won't go to jail. Their minds aren't exactly normal, if you know what I mean. Maybe now they'll go somewhere that'll help them. That's how you did them a favour."

Hutch didn't say anything, but he looked slightly happier. Starsky took that as a good sign. "Number three. You're annoyed with yourself because you told them what they wanted to hear. And you probably think you could have done something differently to stop it all happening."

Hutch stood up abruptly and stalked to the other side of the room. "Maybe I shouldn't have told them what they wanted to hear! Maybe I don't deserve... this!" With a sweep of his hand he gestured to Starsky and the room in general. "I should have found something different to do, or say to them..."

The somewhat grey light filtering through the window, shining onto Hutch where he stood with his face half-turned away from Starsky, clearly highlighted the bruises on Hutch's face, which stood out starkly against the otherwise-pale skin, and Starsky found himself wishing that that had been the only damage. That he could have dealt with, but this was confusing. However, he was going to do his best, and he was encouraged by Hutch's almost-positive reactions to his other statements.

"Who knows how far they would have gone if you hadn't done wanted they wanted?" Starsky asked evenly. "You bought enough time for us to get to them. And also, they know who killed Thompson in the hotel."

Hutch turned back towards Starsky quickly, his eyes widening as realisation hit him. "They did it, didn't they? Just to get to us?"

Starsky's started to shrug, then stopped himself quickly, and nodded once instead. "Well I think it was mainly you they wanted to get to."

Hutch shook his head in disbelief. "So we're off the hook? Maybe jail's the best place for them." He thought some more. "Did anyone catch the murderer we went in to catch in the first place, yet?"

"Nope. Not yet. I kinda had other things on my mind the last few days, but some other guys were workin' on it."

"Hm. You know, I only gave in to them to save you," Hutch informed Starsky, changing his tone as this new idea occurred to him, and subconsciously pointing a finger at his partner as he thought.

"Me?" Starsky asked, amused. "What did I do? You were the one in trouble." He sensed the change in Hutch, and he thought he realised what his partner was doing; trying to be lighthearted about what had happened. He went along with it for now.

"They told me they were gonna kill you, I think, unless I went along with what they said. That's the only reason I did as they said."

"Ohh," Starsky agreed, nodding. "Then you only _pretended_ to say what they wanted to save _me_. Thanks, partner, that was clever." He grinned and looked up at Hutch to see if he was convinced.

"That's right," Hutch agreed, looking happier.

"And they drugged you too. It's terrific that you managed to think of saving me at all, under the circumstances. Can't thank you enough, buddy." Starsky gazed at Hutch with an expression of mock-admiration.

"Exactly." Hutch definitely looked happier now.

Starsky hauled himself off the bed where he sat, looking around for his missing sneaker, and shrugged as he decided it didn't matter. "Ow," he muttered, grabbing for his shoulder again.

Hutch noticed, of course, and guessed at the reason as he moved slightly closer to Starsky. "How's that magnetic shoulder of yours?"

"Oh, you know. Hasn't fallen off yet."

"That's good to hear," Hutch answered softly.

"Come here." Starsky gestured to Hutch.

"Why?" Hutch didn't move from his place near the window and eyed Starsky warily.

"So I can smack you for being such a – a _mushbrain. _Why d'ya think?_"_

"Thought you were the mushbrain," Hutch snickered.

"Just get over here."

Starsky had come to a decision, and before Hutch could protest, Starsky stepped up to him quickly and threw his arms around him in a tight hug, ignoring his shoulder's protest for now. Hutch stiffened in alarm for a moment, then seemed to relax as he realised what Starsky was doing. "I don't do soapy scenes, ya know," Starsky informed him. "But under the circumstances... I'll let you have this one."

Hutch nodded against Starsky's shoulder. "What soapy scene? I didn't notice anything," he said conspiratorially.

"That's right."

Starsky let him go, and held him at arm's length, considering. "What d'you want to do now?"

"I want to go in and see those two guys. Gary and Liam."

"No you don't," Starsky told him firmly.

"I do!" Hutch was adamant about what he wanted.

"Why? After what they did... Why would you put yourself through that?"

"I just want to," Hutch replied stubbornly.

Starsky thought about it. At least by seeing them at the precinct, Hutch would be the one in control, not the criminals; being in his own environment. And he would have to give a statement at some point anyway. Maybe Hutch felt he needed to see them, to finish things off between them and convince himself that he really had done the best thing. Starsky already knew that Hutch had done the best he could, but convincing the blond was going to take a little more work.

"Okay, buddy, but I'm coming in with you. One little sign of trouble, and we're leaving." Putting his arm through Hutch's, Starsky steered him to the door and out to the car.

TBC


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

**Hi Ladies: I want to say I'm really sorry for waiting so long before posting. Extra big thanks to Janet, Lyxie, Barricades of Heaven, Brook, Hig, Trish and Aussie Mitcham for the regular reviews, and thanks to everyone who's read and reviewed so far! It really means a lot. So, without further delay, here's the next chapter:**

A brief conversation told them that Gary was being questioned, and Liam would join him later. "Maybe an interview room's the best place to do this anyway," Starsky decided. Hutch nodded.

"You still sure you want to do it?" Starsky asked, carefully. It had taken him this long to convince Hutch that he hadn't done anything wrong; he didn't want a meeting with the captors undoing all that hard work and reducing Hutch to his former state of jumpy, small-voiced sadness.

Hutch smiled, knowing exactly what his partner was thinking. "Yeah, I'm sure."

"What're you gonna say to them?"

A little frown appeared between Hutch's eyebrows. "I'm not sure yet."

"Want me to come in with you?" Starsky's face was a picture of concern, and Hutch got the feeling that Starsky would have insisted on accompanying him no matter what his response had been. Hutch smiled at him. "No question."

They pushed the door open, and Starsky almost barged Hutch out of the way in his eagerness to enter first. His eyes swept around the room before fixing on Gary, where he sat at the table.

Gary met Starsky's eyes with a combined smirk and a glare of defiance, before glancing at Hutch.

Starsky automatically followed Gary's glance, looking back at Hutch himself to check how he was holding up. He was relieved to see Hutch staring back at Gary with an equally icy glare of defiance.

Starsky dragged two chairs forward, and turning one the wrong way, he sat on it himself, offering the other to Hutch. Starsky gave Gary a threatening gaze of his own before turning to Hutch to see how he would proceed.

Hutch glanced at Starsky, who nodded reassuringly. He looked at Gary. He cleared his throat, and Gary gave him a mocking stare, seeming to challenge Hutch to speak to him.

Hutch began. "I'm sorry."

No-one had been expecting that. Starsky gave him a '_What are you doing?' _look.

Gary grinned with pleasure, then addressed Starsky. "I told him it was all his fault. He knows it." He then looked at Hutch, making finger-snapping gestures with his hands, and causing Hutch to pale. Starsky stood up abruptly, nearly knocking his chair over, and started to reach across the table towards Gary's collar, until Hutch grabbed his arm and pulled him back down, whispering calmingly.

Hutch continued, making his speech in a rush as if to get it all out of the way before Gary would start any more teasing. "I'm sorry your father had to get put away, and that you and your brother got left alone, and that you couldn't finish studying, and for whatever your father did. But I'm not sorry I got him off the streets and stopped him making any more victims, and I'm not sorry you and your brother are going somewhere where you'll get the help you so obviously need."

Gary continued to smirk all the way through Hutch's speech, seeming to be unmoved by Hutch's sentiment. Hutch didn't care. His part was done. He stood up, patting Starsky on the shoulder as he did so, and headed for the door, turning back as he reached it. "And another thing... maybe you should stick to children's books for a while."

Gary opened his mouth to say something else, but Starsky stopped to give Gary a parting gesture of his own, of the two-fingered variety. With that, they exited the room, only to come across Liam in the corridor, presumably being taken to join his brother. His eyes widened as he recognised Hutch, and then he stared at the floor.

"Hi Liam. Enjoying your stay?" Hutch's tone was friendly, but Starsky didn't believe that it was sincere.

"I don't like it here," Liam pouted.

"You should have thought of that before you kidnapped a cop," Starsky interrupted the conversation.

"Starsk." Hutch nudged him, and looked at Liam again. "I was just telling your brother I was sorry for what happened to you two and your dad."

Liam shrugged. "It doesn't matter. And I've been thinking,"

"That's a miracle," muttered Starsky.

Luckily Liam didn't hear him, and carried on speaking. "Gary shouldn't have been so mean. He does that sometimes, but he's usually right, so..." Liam shrugged and trailed off.

Hutch was surprised at that, to say the least. The last thing he'd expected from one of the captors who'd participated in so much cruelty was a semi-apology. Maybe Liam really hadn't understood the full reality of what he'd taken part in. "So you do as he says. Well, you don't always have to do as your brother says."

"Yeah..." Liam looked at his feet.

"Maybe you'll find something else you like to do now."

Starsky sighed, fidgeted and looked at his watch.

Hutch judged it best to move on. "We better get going."

Hutch grabbed Starsky and sidestepped around Liam, continuing along the corridor.

Starsky glanced sideways at Hutch as they walked. "Do you think you got through to him?"

"To Gary? No."

"Me neither. But maybe the other one."

"Yeah..."

"Feel better?"

"Yep."

"Job done. Let's get out of here." Starsky slung an arm around Hutch's shoulders. "What've you got in your fridge?"

"Uhm..."

"Ah. Stupid question."

"Well, contrary to what you might believe, my refrigerator's job is not to feed you."

"Hm. The fridge's job is to store beer and nothing else, right?"

"This is coming from the man who organised all the cans in my kitchen alphabetically."

"You were out of it when I did that! What else was I supposed to do while I waited? Your house is so boring, that's what you reduced me to."

"My house is not boring!"

"Yeah, I guess it could have been worse. You could have been awake and introducing me to all your newest plants. Louise, meet Starsky...", Starsky mimicked.

By this time they had reached Starsky's car, and Hutch leaned against it. "You keep this up and I'm walking back, and _you _can explain to everyone how you made me walk home on my own. I'm the injured one here." Hutch put on his saddest face, and Starsky couldn't help laughing.

"Hey, I got injured too you know," he complained, rubbing his shoulder and aiming for some sympathy.

"And we didn't even finish our assignment," Hutch added, not giving in to Starsky.

"Hm. Wanna do something about it?" Starsky asked, abandoning his attempt to gain sympathy.

"Well, it's kinda late..."

"Yep." Starsky glanced at his watch, which showed three o clock in the afternoon. "We deserve a break." At the look Hutch gave him, he amended his statement. "Okay, some of us need a break more than others. We're not gonna get any work done now anyway, and there are other guys on the case..."

"Yeah, you've convinced me."

"Good. Besides, do you really want to go back to that hotel and have that woman tell you off? In fact," Starsky began to grin, warming to his subject, "she'll probably reprimand you for missing so many days of work." Another thought hit him. "And she's going to want her uniform back!"

"She can have it back, but it's not going to be in the same condition it was when I got it."

"She'll take the cost of, ah, cleaning and repairs, out of your pay."

"Starsk, shut up and open the car."

"Oh, right." Starsky did so, and after some further bickering, decided to head to his own home, because, as he put it, "There's food there."

As Starsky drove, Hutch appeared to be deep in thought. Starsky was hesitant to ask what he was thinking at first, but as more time passed and Hutch still didn't say a word, he decided, to hell with delicacy. "What are you thinking, Hutch?" Hutch hesitated, and Starsky probed further. "About those guys?"

"Yeah. It's strange how they tried to get to me by threatening to kill you."

"Well, they know how much I mean to you."

Hutch gave him a '_don't push it' _look, and continued. "You weren't even really there, but I believed them."

"We've been through this before; it was the drugs. And they have a sick sense of humour."

Hutch nodded, looking thoughtful, so Starsky added to his answer. "For what it's worth, I'm grateful." Hutch looked at him. "For you saving me. Even though I wasn't there, I mean. You thought you'd saved me."

"Actually they said they were going to carry on hurting you anyway because I didn't do what they wanted fast enough," Hutch replied.

"Oh."

"Well, I tried."

"Yeah." Now Starsky looked affronted.

"I thought they'd locked you in a closet at one point," Hutch offered. "I knew you would have hated that."

"Did you tell 'em not to?" Starsky concentrated very hard on driving.

"Well, it was too late, I only thought of it after they did it to me."

"Oh." Starsky thought about it. "Well, you tried."

"Yep." Seeing that Starsky appeared confused, Hutch took pity on him. "I didn't want them to hurt you, ya know. I did try, but I didn't know what was going on most of the time."

"I know." By this time they had arrived home, and Starsky switched off the engine and grinned at Hutch. "It really wasn't your fault. You know that now, right?"

"Yeah, I think so. Just think what could have happened if you'd played the staff and I'd been the guest."

As Starsky sat trying to work that one out, Hutch got out, leaving him in the car, and headed up to the front door.

TBC


	19. Chapter 19

Hey everyone: Just taking the opportunity to say thanks for all the reviews and encouragement so far, as this story is coming to an end soon. But not to worry; a couple of other stories are in the planning, and they should hopefully please both the Hutchie ladies and the Starsky girls! Without further delay (which I'm so sorry for, again) here's the next chapter. Hope you'll like...

* * *

**Chapter 19**

At Starsky's apartment, Starsky got his food, and they got talking. Now that Hutch seemed to be getting back to his usual self, Starsky felt it safe to ask more questions. The most important one for now being "Were you really scared of me?"

Hutch considered it. He had been scared, but of Starsky? He decided on his answer. "When you found me, and for a while after that, I had no idea what was going on. It wasn't personal, I was afraid of everyone. I thought I really was to blame, and, uh, I was scared that someone was going to hurt me. Or you. You know, after everything they did, it was pretty hard to think otherwise." He gave a somewhat embarrassed smile.

Starsky pointed a fork at Hutch. "With me there? You know I wouldn't allow it."

"That's good to know. But with you it was different. After I realised you weren't dead, then...you were being nice to me and it felt like I didn't deserve it. At first I was scared I might hurt you. And I thought I'd let you down." Hutch dropped his eyes and it was obvious that he thought his last sentence shouldn't have been in the past tense. He felt that he really had let his partner down.

Starsky sighed. "How many times do I have to..?" He looked Hutch in the eye and spoke firmly, separating each word. "You. Didn't. Wasn't your fault."

"But they could have killed you if they'd really had you there."

"Could've killed you too," Starsky pointed out.

"That would have been my own fault. If they killed you, that wouldn't be your fault."

Starsky sighed. He felt like he was doing that a lot lately, but then it seemed to fit the situation a lot. "And you say my logic makes no sense."

That got a small laugh from Hutch.

_Finally, _Starsky thought. "We seem to be going in circles here, so I'm gonna say this one last time and you're going to agree. We know the risks of the job. It's not our fault – especially not yours – if some flake decides he doesn't like us and wants to pay us back for upholding the law. Right?"

Hutch hesitated.

"Right?" Starsky pressed.

Seeing he was going to get nowhere, Hutch thought it best to agree. "Right." And when he thought about it, that did make sense. He told Starsky so.

"I thought you were supposed to be the brains of this outfit," Starsky teased. "Seems like I'm the one with the real smarts."

Hutch pretended to be thinking seriously. "I wouldn't go that far."

Starsky pretended outrage and picked up a fragment of crisp off his plate, throwing it at Hutch. Hutch caught it, lifting a chiding finger. "Watch it, you don't wanna mess up your floor."

Starsky clicked his fingers. "Right. Well, when you put it that way."

"Hey, we've still got a case to solve."

"Yeah. But not right now, huh? Dobey'll understand." Starsky had talked to the Captain earlier to fill him in on the situation with Hutch, and Dobey had understood, and offered time off to them until Hutch was back to normal, in his characteristic way of pretending not to care as much as he did. "Monopoly?" Starsky offered.

"Sure."

"I'm being the race car," Starsky ordered as he stood up to get the game box.

"Whatever," Hutch smiled indulgently. "When do you ever want to be any other piece?" The familiar game had a relaxing effect now, as did the predictable behaviour of his partner.

After several hours of the game which ended in Starsky being bankrupt, it was Hutch who finally suggested it might be bedtime. Starsky, who was practically asleep on the floor, reluctantly agreed.

"D'you realise," he asked Hutch sleepily, "that we barely got any sleep since this whole thing started?"

Hutch grinned. "What time do you want your wake-up call?"

Starsky's immediate response, with his fingers, was not particularly civil. "I like these little hotels better," he waved vaguely at the game pieces. He squinted up at Hutch. "You stay here tonight. Want you where I can keep an eye on you. You take the comfy bed."

Hutch hesitated. "You sure?"

"Mm-hm. I can sleep anywhere. You've said so yourself."

There was a pause. "Are you gonna get off the floor?" Hutch asked. "I mean, I know you said you can sleep anywhere, but down there probably isn't a great idea."

"Mm." There was still no movement.

"Starsk?" he tried once more. A faint snore issued from the floor where Starsky sprawled with his head on his hand. "Okay then." Grabbing the blanket and a cushion off the sofa, Hutch positioned them in the appropriate places, receiving only a muffled grumble in response, and left Starsky to it.

* * *

Hutch dreamed of Gary. He was sneering in a very unpleasant manner and holding a large book. "Hey Hutch, if I beat you with this, how long do you think it'll be before you tell me where Starsky is?"

Liam appeared behind Gary. "Starsky's dead, bro, don't you remember? You told me to kill him."

"Good work Liam." Dream Gary turned his attention back to Hutch. "You're a bad boy, Hutch. That was your fault." He lifted the book, which had suddenly transformed into a knife. Then Starsky appeared, and he wasn't dead at all, but he didn't know that Gary was about to plunge the knife into him. Hutch was aware, in his dream, that he could do nothing about these events but watch and wait.

"No!" Hutch's disbelieving cry woke him up, and he waited a minute, registering the fact that the dream hadn't really happened and trying to determine whether he'd shouted out loud or not. He got his answer when a sleepy looking Starsky appeared in the doorway, looking at him in concern. "Hutch? You okay?"

Hutch exhaled in relief at seeing Starsky without a knife in him. "Yeah. Our friends decided to pay me a visit in my sleep."

Starsky took a seat on the end of the bed. "Wanna tell me about it?"

Hutch crushed the blanket between his fingers. "Not much to tell. He laughed at me, and he was going to kill you, and I couldn't do anything."

Starsky patted his shoulder. "Well, they can't do anything to us now."

"I know. Doesn't mean I want to dream about them though."

"I know." Starsky's voice was reassuring.

Hutch looked up at the window, where sunlight was starting to come through. "It's morning."

"Yeah." Starsky sounded distinctly unenthusiastic about it.

"How was your night on the floor?"

"Surprisingly uncomfortable, actually." Starsky winced to prove it.

"Sorry about that." Hutch suppressed a grin.

"No you're not. I was thinking," Starsky continued. "When I was walking around the hotel that night, I could hear someone using a vacuum cleaner."

"That'll be the cleaners, buddy. They clean the building using vacuum cleaners."

Starsky ignored the joking. "Thank you, I know that. Well, if they work at night, maybe they saw something, huh?"

Hutch finally understood. "I see. So you think we should talk to them?"

"I do. Well, I think _I_ should talk to them."

"I'm okay to come with you," Hutch insisted.

"Yeah, but you don't have my charm." Starsky _had _been doubting the wisdom of taking Hutch with him, but he thought his partner would appreciate the lighthearted response more than he would like a concerned one.

"Did anyone talk to the staff already?"

"Yeah, they did, but maybe they missed something."

Hutch was out of bed and looking around for his things. "I'm coming. We need to go down to the precinct and get those cleaners in."

At the precinct, Starsky picked up the phone and called Mrs Hawthorne, to ask her specifically about the cleaning staff. There was a silence from the other end as she thought, and then she seemed to realise something. "There was one man who used to do housekeeping at the hotel," she began. "I had to let him go several months ago. He was extremely rude to the guests."

"Did he ever give you the idea that he was capable of anything like this?" Starsky asked.

"No," she told him. "But you can never be sure, can you?"

Starsky agreed, and after asking for an address on the old cleaner, he thanked Mrs Hawthorne and hung up.

Five hours later, after calling the ex-cleaner in to ask him some questions, they had their suspect. Under the 'good cop, bad cop' routine, he had finally slipped up and said something to a seemingly sympathetic Hutch about "those damned rich bastards", which had resulted in a relentless barrage of questions. This had uncovered the facts that his knowledgeable access to almost all rooms, and his easily-disposable rubber gloves, were important factors in his ability to kill guests.

A few more threats from Starsky, and the man was ready to give his whole confession.

"They were rich, you know?" he complained. "And they never paid me any attention. Just ignored me like I was nothing. Thirty years, almost every day, I worked here. So I thought, 'I'll show them what nothing can do.'"

Hutch sighed, and Starsky got up to use the phone, calling someone to come and take down the confession.

They stood together in the corner of the room to wait, discussing this new development. "He obviously wasn't hired for his brains," was Starsky's first muttered comment.

Hutch shook his head. "No. What a reason to kill someone."

Starsky nodded. "If everyone in this city killed the people who ignored them, our job'd be a lot bigger."

Hutch put a hand under his chin, thinking. "Well, his job can't be much fun. No one really thanks you for it, I guess."

"And the uniform's terrible."

"That too."

The arrival of the stenographer interrupted their discussion, and soon the man's confession was complete and he was taken away.

Starsky looked at Hutch. "I'm dreading writing the reports."

Dobey appeared behind Starsky. "You** will **get them done, Starsky. And I mean soon!"

Starsky gave him a salute. "Yes, sir."

"How are you doing, Hutch?" Dobey asked.

Hutch shrugged slightly. "Okay, I guess."

"Good. You can get your share of the reports done too."

Starsky elbowed his partner. "Aw, look at that, Hutch, he loves you."

"Shut up Starsky," Dobey barked. "You two can go, but I want to see you back in here tomorrow finishing your work."

Starsky saluted again. "Thank you, Captain. As generous as you are beautiful."

Hutch grabbed Starsky and dragged him to the exit before he could annoy Dobey any further, calling "Thanks, Cap," over his shoulder.

* * *

tbc


	20. Chapter 20

Well, I didn't think it'd take this long to finish posting this story when I began. I'm sorry it took so long, but thanks so much to everyone that stuck with it, and to those of you who gave me lovely reviews! You know who you are. Without any more delays, here's the final chapter, and I'll be back before too long with a couple of new stories.

**Chapter 20**

Two weeks later:

Over time Starsky and Hutch had become familiar with the details of Gary and Liam's activities. Gary had killed their old colleague, Thompson. Gary and his brother had been in the hotel bar that night, and had seen Starsky and Hutch. Gary had recognised Hutch as the man who he perceived to have ruined his family life. After seeing Starsky fight with Thompson, and knowing there had been other murders there, Gary had thought it would be a good start to his revenge if he killed the man, and hope that Hutch and Starsky were blamed. Especially as he knew that if Starsky in particular was blamed, that would upset Hutch even more. As if that wasn't good enough, the dead man was also a cop. Gary hated cops. He hadn't been able to believe his luck at thus getting his revenge on everyone. He had then kept a watch on the two detectives to see the results of his actions, and hadn't been disappointed, especially after he'd managed to injure Starsky. He had then decided to take the fun even further by kidnapping Hutch.

Both he and his brother had now been admitted to an institution, where Gary was trying his hand at creative writing, much to the consternation of the staff, and Liam was discovering a liking for gardening. Liam had sent Hutch a plant he had grown, as an apology, and Hutch was happy to take the poor thing in, after it had been thoroughly checked by Starsky for any signs of a sinister motive. Other than the plant having thorns, Starsky hadn't found anything dangerous, and it had joined the collection in Hutch's living room.

With the case over, the murdering cleaner in prison, and Hutch being pretty much back to his usual self, apart form the occasional nightmare, the pair were left standing in the lobby of the Golden Sands Hotel, waiting to meet with Mrs Hawthorne, who had requested to see them again after the murders had been solved. Hutch spotted Joanne still working the reception desk and gave her a little wave, which she returned with a smile.

The manager came hurrying out of her office, wearing a peach coloured suit and a gigantic smile.

"Welcome back, detectives! I'm so glad you could come and visit me, now that all that unpleasant business is cleared up. Would you like to come into the office?"

Hutch cleared his throat. "There is the little matter of you trying to tell the police that _we'd _killed someone."

Her composure didn't break as she answered. "I'm sorry about that. All a nasty misunderstanding really." Mrs Hawthorne smiled sheepishly at them, and Starsky was about to interrupt her, when she continued with, "But really, it was rather good publicity for my hotel. A lot of people of a certain type _wanted_ to stay at the hotel where the cop murdered his old enemy. Even if he didn't," she added hastily. "But it's a great advertising line, and I'm thinking of running one of those murder-mystery evenings."

"Isn't that in rather poor taste?" Hutch offered his opinion. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Joanne smirk.

Starsky was confused by another aspect. "I wouldn't have thought they'd be the kind of people you'd want in your hotel, Mrs H. This being a high-class establishment and all."

"Yes, well... one can't be choosy. After all," she leaned toward Starsky conspiratorially, "they're bringing in a substantial amount of money."

Starsky looked at Hutch as Hutch looked at him, and they both nodded as if that settled it.

"You're a wise business woman, Mrs Hawthorne." Starsky told her.

She actually giggled at Starsky– Hutch thought that was one of the most alarming things he'd ever heard – and proceeded to make her offer. "To say thank you for sorting all this out, and bringing so much business in – and as an apology for the mix-up, I'd like you to come and stay here for a couple of nights."

"For free?" Starsky checked.

"Yes, for free," she clarified. "Use of all the facilities, free drinks at the bar, and a couple of my best suites. How does that sound?"

They looked at each other, silently discussing it, while she stood and smiled at them. "Oh, do say you'll take me up on it. I shall be very disappointed if you don't."

"I bet she will," Hutch whispered.

"You're just jealous that she likes me," Starsky whispered back. He turned the charm back on as he smiled at the woman. "Well, when you put it like that, how can we refuse?"

"Do you think we can get the time off?" Hutch asked Starsky.

"If we can't, I'm coming here anyway. We didn't exactly get to enjoy it last time did we?"

"I don't know, I seem to remember you enjoying yourself quite a bit."

Starsky thought back, and smiled at Hutch in a way he obviously thought was placatory. "Oh, you mean with the room service thing."

"Yeah, that." Hutch glared at him.

"I only did it 'cause I missed you," Starsky tried. "Anyway, you got your own back, right? With the wake-up call thing?"

"So that's what you were doing," Mrs Hawthorne interrupted, making the men jump. They had momentarily forgotten she was there.

"Uh, well, you run such a high quality establishment, we had to have a bit of fun while we worked," Hutch offered.

"Ah well, boys will be boys." With a final scary smile, she wandered off in the direction of her office. "Let me know what you think!" she called over her shoulder.

Starsky gestured after her with a thumb. "What's with her?"

Hutch shrugged. "Told ya before. You attract weirdos."

She reappeared suddenly, some papers in her hand. "Here we are... I have availability this weekend, as it happens. Two adjacent rooms."

"Is that a good idea?" Hutch wanted to know.

"You're the one who snores," Starsky told him, taking the papers.

"I wasn't thinking about snoring."

"It'll be fine," Starsky assured Mrs Hawthorne, who waited expectantly. "We'd love to take you up on your offer. We'll see you then."

"Excellent!" she said, beaming at them. "I can't tell you how pleased I am."

After agreeing to be there that weekend, the pair made their way outside. Free from Mrs Hawthorne's enthusiastic stare, Starsky was free to laugh. "Murder mystery evenings." He snorted, and Hutch joined in.

"That woman is clearly nuts," Hutch offered his professional opinion.

Starsky rubbed his chin, thinking. "You know, if _we _went on those murder evenings, I bet we could solve them. What do you think the prize is?"

Hutch snorted. "No idea. Probably another free stay at the hotel."

Starsky thought some more. "Do you think she invited us so we could join in a murder mystery evening?"

Hutch thought too. "Maybe. Likely, in fact. Still, who cares? Free stay in a top class hotel."

Starsky thought again. "Hutch? Is it gonna bother you? Y'know, being in the hotel where it all started, and all."

Hutch thought again too. "No. I don't think so. I mean, I know it was bad, and I hate what those guys did, but mainly I was worried about you. And you're gonna be here, right where I can keep an eye on you. And you can keep an eye on me too."

Starsky smiled.

Hutch put an arm around him, and Starsky returned the hug. "Now come on and get in the car, Starsk. We've got packing to do."

**The End**


End file.
